Trimming mature ash trees

locky76

Given I survived the recent storms with minimal damage I think it might be a good time to cut some of the crown off my mature ash trees, any advice on this or some books I should read?
I planned on hiring a cheery picker and cutting them from the top down...

blue5000

How old are they? About 30 years ago mature ash trees along a road near here were pruned and now they are basically all rotten from the cut down. The tree was never able to cover the branch cut off point, perhaps the collar at the base of the branch was removed. If they are structurally sound I think they'd be better left alone. Just my 2 cents.

Oldtree

locky76 wrote: »

Given I survived the recent storms with minimal damage I think it might be a good time to cut some of the crown off my mature ash trees, any advice on this or some books I should read?
I planned on hiring a cheery picker and cutting them from the top down...

If you top the trees you will make them more dangerous in the next few years esp if they are adjacent to a public roadway. If they are not then and there is no potential hazard then why are you cutting them? Reading a book will not give you the adequate experience to tackle mature trees, you could easily kill yourself. "Fear of" is not an adequate reason to top mature trees. Get a professional arborists advice.

http://www.goodwin-arborist.com/

wayoutwest

I agree with Oldtree-Mature Ash can be dangerous to deal with.Their low resin content ,plus the fact that they rot out very easily, makes them prone to whole branches just snapping off. An old fella, with a lot of felling expereance, once told me that he called them the 'Widowmaker'.
Also, I have noticed that growback can be very slow or non-existant, after cutting thick branches off large Ash.

Oldtree

wayoutwest wrote: »

I agree with Oldtree-Mature Ash can be dangerous to deal with.Their low resin content ,plus the fact that they rot out very easily, makes them prone to whole branches just snapping off. An old fella, with a lot of felling expereance, once told me that he called them the 'Widowmaker'.
Also, I have noticed that growback can be very slow or non-existant, after cutting thick branches off large Ash.

I was just going to say that "widowmaker" due to the weak forks

Topping leaves large "wounds" that do not seal over, thus any shoots that start up from just below the wound points are points of weakness, where in a few years there is the potential for large shoots/branches to easily break off. Trees are self balancing (roots to shoots) so when you top the tree it can go crazy and try to rebalance itself leading to substantial shoots vey quickly. As well as looking astheticaly terrible topping is a poor work practice.

It is a common opinion that if a tree is to be topped then it may be better to remove it alltogeather, I have to say that there is inherent value in an mature tree (habitat etc) so I would argue that retention with a topping is of value in some cases (non-hazard) but only where there is a management regime to remove the shoots every 3 years and the wounds are not too large.

have2flushtwice

there are ash trees on banks of the N4, which were topped a few years back. they are around Maynooth on both sides.
I don't think they were mature, but they were beautiful. they are growing well again, (as well as a tree can look at 100 km/hr!) so it can be done. however listen to the experts.

Oldtree

have2flushtwice wrote: »

there are ash trees on banks of the N4, which were topped a few years back. they are around Maynooth on both sides.
I don't think they were mature, but they were beautiful. they are growing well again, (as well as a tree can look at 100 km/hr!) so it can be done. however listen to the experts.

It can be done but the question is should it:

http://www.treesaregood.com/treecare/topping.aspx

junospider

I have 2 mature beech trees beside a busy road.I need to do something with them but would hate to remove them totally.They seem sound but I feel it is only a matter of time before they come crashing down.What are my options?

Oldtree

junospider wrote: »

I have 2 mature beech trees beside a busy road.I need to do something with them but would hate to remove them totally.They seem sound but I feel it is only a matter of time before they come crashing down.What are my options?

mature Beech are one of those that do not regrow readily from a pruning due to the lack of adventitious buds in older bark.

Why do you need to do something with them? Again the "fear of" is not a good reason to fell/top a tree. I'll keep saying it, get a professional arborists (:D) advice.

http://www.goodwin-arborist.com/

You would need this advice anyway should something happen. This advice would also be pertinent if you apply for a felling licence