How Safe Are Our Trees?

As the first hints of summer head our way, it’s all too easy to forget the winter that was, only ten weeks ago or so, throwing its worst at the South West of England. If we do cast our minds back to that relentless round of storms that damaged historic buildings and left a gaping hole in our rail links to the west, some of the most iconic images are those of trees that came over, occasionally flattening cars or structures.

Ash Dieback

We’ve had a lot of enquiries about Chalara lately. The most up to date advice is DON’T PANIC! If you’re concerned about your trees click on the link below, this gives a comprehensive description of the disease, it’s symptoms, and strategies for dealing with it. If you are still unsure contact us and we will be happy to advise.

Summer Branch Drop

We’ve seen an unusual proportion of sudden branch failures over the last few weeks, presumably due to the phenomenon known as Sudden Branch Drop or Summer Branch Drop, both shortened to SBD. The mechanism for this is not fully understood, but it appears to relate to a combination of heavily loaded limbs, an internal or otherwise not very obvious weakness of some sort and adverse weather conditions during periods of high humidity.