5 Things You Must Check Your Trees for This Autumn!

Could your trees be dangerous in the upcoming autumn storms? Could they be putting your property at risk?

Trees are wonderful additions to our gardens and are fundamentally very strong and sturdy beings. However, in some circumstances trees can turn into hazards that should be managed proactively.

Autumn and Winter Storms

Structurally unstable or sick and damaged trees can often look perfectly healthy. It’s only when an outside force intervenes that they can fail, seemingly out of nowhere.

• High winds and autumn storms have the ability of break and topple damaged trees, sometimes catastrophically.
• Falling and breaking trees can serious damage or even destroy things around them such as cars, houses and sheds.

This autumn, we at Climbers Way Tree Care have put together a quick checklist to help you ensure your trees are strong and healthy. Strong, happy trees have little problem with storms!

5 Things to Check Your Tree For

1# Cracks

• Cracks can be caused by many things, including frost. They are often safe and can be healed by the tree.
• Larger cracks, cracks around the base and cracks on branches however, could pose a serious risk. Inspect your trees for cracks and get any checked out by a specialist to ensure they are healthy and strong.

Vertical cracks are one of the most obvious signs of damage and instability in a tree and very long and deep cracks need urgent attention by a qualified arborist.

2# Bracket Fungi

• Semi-circular fungi that appear anywhere and at any time on a tree. These cause serious heartwood decay, often even before they’re visible externally.
• Bracket-caused decay will weaken wood, causing branches to fall and, eventually, the tree to topple
• Pay special attention to Beech and Ash trees, both of which are especially susceptible to bracket fungus.

Once the brackets are visible, there is most likely already substantial decay within the tree caused by this fungus. This decay weakens the tree internally until it eventually topples.

Checking your trees for bracket fungi is a great way to pre-emptively spot weakened trees that might fall during a storm. If you find brackets, you can call a tree specialist to inspect and offer advice.

You can read more about bracket fungi on the RHS website.

3# Declining Tips or Dieback

• Dieback is the slow decline of a tree as it suffers for one reason or another. Sometimes it’s due to disease, other times it’s due to manmade issues such as concreting around the base, change in soil alkalinity or other pollution.
• Declining tips is the first sign, where the twigs or tips of the tree begin to die and disappear. The dieback will most probably progress unless the initial cause goes away. 
• Progressed dieback causes instability and the tree eventually dies completely. Tree professionals can inspect the tree to estimate the damage sustained and offer further options.

Trees must transport a vast quantity of nutrients from the ground to the highest leaves and everything in between. When the tree cannot do this, for disease or environmental reasons, it tends to shrink its size and begins dying back.

4# Weak stems (included unions)

• Where two branches come from the same fork or junction. These co-dominant branches can grow bark between them, causing serious instability.
• Weak stems and branches arise from this and the weaker of the two can fall once it gets too heavy to be supported by the poorly grown joint.

Known as a tree fork, or co-dominant stem, when these include bark they are called ‘included unions’ or ‘included bark junction’. Spotted early, when the stems are young, makes them very manageable through pruning out or shortening the weaker branch.

5# Previous damage

• Branches previously fallen off could be a sign of decay. This could suggest inherent weakness or progressive decline.
• Cuts and areas of exposed heartwood make trees very susceptible to infection from fungi like brackets. These cause decay and tree death.

Previous damage caused by outside forces can create weak spots or areas susceptible to fungal infection. Previous damage such as branches falling off can be a sign that the tree is already sick and decaying.

To fully protect your home and family, it’s a good idea to get trees that have sustained past damage looked at by a professional.

Getting your trees checked out

If you suspect that one or more of your trees might be suffering from decay, sickness or weakness, it’s best to get them checked out by a professional.

This isn’t expensive or time consuming and professionals can confirm the health of your tree. If trees are damaged but recoverable, our professionals can show you how to keep you tree healthy and take steps to manage any weak spots.

Keep your home and trees happy this autumn and winter!

When does a good screening plant become an unwelcome screening plant?

For one of our recent customers it was when they had grown so tall that they blocked all the sunlight to her greenhouse, caused surrounding plants and shrubs to suffer, and became impossible to maintain without hiring professionals.

There are two qualities that make the Leyland cypress, aka leylandii, an excellent screening plant:

• Its notoriously fast growth rate which means you get a tall hedge very quickly and economically.
• Its thick dense foliage that provides plenty of privacy.

These are the same two qualities that can also lead to problems. Huge problems.

• Leylandii can grow up to 3ft (90cm) a year. This means that within a decade you could have 30ft (9m) of tree to contend with, the equivalent of a three story house!
• The same thick dense foliage that provides plenty of privacy is also practically impenetrable to sunlight.

Our customer had a troublesome line of 8 leylandii trees in her garden that had grown to 50-60ft (15-18m) tall!

She wanted the sunlight back in her garden, particularly on her greenhouse.

This wasn’t a simple felling job though as just below the trees were decorative water features, delicate garden ornaments, and many shrubs that had been carefully grown over years.

We had to avoid any damage to this!

We weren’t worried though. Using the most up-to-date techniques and rigging we were able to carefully bring down the tree line piece by piece.

After the brash wood and timber had been removed we ground out the stumps. Just a fertile mulch was the only sign of the 8 giants that used to be there before.

8 problems removed, 1 introduced…

The problem now was that the missing trees left a direct sight line into our customer’s garden. She had the sunlight back but had lost the privacy given to her by the leylandii.

Before starting the removal we had anticipated this and talked some options through with the customer.

Together we chose to plant up a new laurel hedge which would provide the required privacy but at a much more manageable height.

We planted a straight line of 7ft shrubs, each 2ft apart.

When planting semi-mature plants you need the root plate to form properly. This requires keeping the plants stable and a great way to do this for a hedge is to use a series of stakes and taught wire along the planting line. The stems of the laurel plants were then attached to the wire with a rubber clip to avoid bark damage.

Privacy into the customer’s garden was preserved thanks to the instant screen provided by the new hedge. The height and slower growth-rate means the hedge will be easily controllable in the future compared to the old leylandii trees.

All problems solved!

Our customer had gone from a huge light-blocking tree line, which required annual maintenance by professionals, to a new self-maintainable cost-free, hedge.

She now gets the light back into her greenhouse to grow the plants she loves, with the added benefit of saving money every year as she can maintain the new hedge herself.

If you also have unmanageable trees or hedges in your garden or on your property then contact us today as we would love to be able to help you too.

A regularly maintained hedge will provide a thick, full, smart boundary to your property. Miss a few trimming sessions however, and you will soon have a hedge that has lost its shape and a more difficult job on your hands!

It is much easier to give the hedge a frequent light trim than it is to give it an infrequent heavy prune.

Regular trimming is also much better for the hedge. Some conifers like leylandii react badly if you cut into old wood, potentially leaving your hedge with bald spots.

When to Cut Hedges

An informal hedge, one where the natural outline of the plants are preserved, will require a maintenance trim once a year between spring and summer.

A formal hedge should be trimmed two to three times a year during the growing season. Fast growing species may need a more frequent trim to keep the hedge under control.

Guidelines on when to trim specific species of popular hedging plants can be found on the RHS website.

It is courteous to check for nesting birds that have made a home of your hedge before carrying out any trimming. The bird nesting season runs between March and August but it is still worth checking for nests outside this period as some species of bird, like woodpigeons and collared doves, will sometimes nest in winter.  Remember it is an offence under Section 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act of 1981 to intentionally take, damage, or destroy the nest of any wild bird while it is in use or being built.

How to trim a hedge

You will need hand-held hedge shears or a powered hedge trimmer. The latter will make the job of trimming a large hedge much quicker and won’t leave you with tired arms.

When using a powered hedge trimmer make sure you stay safe. Wear safety goggles and sturdy gloves. With an electric trimmer use a safety socket, and keep the cable away from the blade. Try draping the cable over one shoulder to avoid it trailing on the ground in front of you. Before starting clear the work area of any obstacles. Using power tools above shoulder height should be avoided so use a stable step ladder when trimming high hedges.

To make the collection of clippings easier place a 2m wide plastic sheet under the hedge. This is an especially useful tip when cutting over gravel. You can then either sweep the sheet or fold it up to collect the clippings for disposal.

Informal Hedges

With an informal hedge you will only need to remove misplaced shoots with secateurs or loppers.

Formal Hedge

The hallmark of a formal hedge is that crisp straight edge and tight finish. If the hedge is only short then you could probably get away with cutting this by eye, stepping back occasionally to make sure you are on the right track.

For a longer hedge, or an untrustworthy eye, create a cutting guide; place a cane into ground at both ends of the hedge then stretch a length of string between them.

The sides of the hedge should be tapered in slightly so that the top is narrower than the bottom. This will allow sunlight and rainwater to reach the lower foliage and the ground, keeping the hedge thick and bushy across its entire height. As the hedge grows taller the angle of the taper can be decreased.

When using a powered trimmer to cut the sides keep the blade parallel to the hedge and use a wide, sweeping motion, walking forwards as you work. You can always use shears to go back and cut any missed sprigs!

Aftercare

Remember to brush off and clean up the trimmings afterwards to prevent the spread of fungal diseases. To keep the hedge in a good condition the last task is to water and mulch the plants.

Get some help

For hedge maintenance to be effective you need to do it regularly. Leaving it will make the job more difficult next time. If you don’t have time trim your hedge, or are not confident in your ability, then you may do more damage than good.  If you would prefer for a professional to take care then Climbers Way Tree Care offer a hedge trimming service.

Beautifully maintained hedges can add immense appeal to your property so don’t miss the trim this summer.

 

 

Sitting outside in the sunshine is one of the many pleasures of summer. Plants need the sun’s light as much as we do. Its nourishing sunbeams providing the energy needed for your garden to flourish and grow.

Unfortunately you can’t change the orientation of your house in order to achieve maximum light exposure for your garden. The truth is, a north-facing garden will always be a north-facing garden.

Not all is lost! There are some things you can do that will help you increase the amount of light your garden gets.

Paint the walls white

Take a look at your garden. Do you have an old wall? Or any timber structures like sheds, pergolas, or rose arches?

A tidy tip is to paint them white or cream!

This easy transformation is particularly effective on south-facing surfaces.

The white surfaces will reflect and diffuse light in many different directions. This will be a benefit to nearby plants and will immediately brighten up your garden.

Choose your hard landscaping materials carefully

The colour of your paving is something to think about if you are going to lay down a path or patio. Use a warm, pale honey-colour. Avoid dark grey or khaki, or slate chipping. Darker colours do not reflect as much light and in a dark garden they can look quite depressing, especially when wet.

Highlight with plants

A shade garden can be brightened with the use of white flowers and variegated foliage. This will only create the illusion of light but as dusk falls white begins to stand out.

Mirrors

Mirrors are a popular way to create the illusion of space in a garden but they will also reflect light and heat from the sun. Mounting a mirror in the brightest section of your garden and directing it towards the darkest area is a great way to improve the light your garden gets.

Do not use a magnifying mirror, or direct multiple mirrors to the same spot, as you may accidentally set fire to the neighbours fence!

Use nature’s mirror: water reflections

A water feature like a pond or fountain can be a great way to spread light around your garden. Water ebbs, flows, and ripples, reflecting light in ever-changing ways. A well-thought-out water feature can be a fantastic addition to your garden, even the focal point.

Install a glass garden sculpture

Why not reflect light around your garden by installing a glass garden sculpture? Incorporate coloured glass and you will add some year-round colour to your garden too,

Before investing in a glass garden sculpture make sure you consider the possibility of overhead limbs falling in bad weather and it. Remove dead, damaged, and diseased branches from your trees to minimise the chances of this happening.

Crown thinning and canopy reduction

That big tree blocking all the sun into your garden? You don’t have to cut it down.

Try thinning the crown instead. It’s the most common way of altering the canopy and involves selective pruning, concentrating on dead or congested shoots, whilst maintaining the overall shape and size of the tree. Up to 30% of the branches can be removed from the canopy which will let more light into your garden.

For the inexperienced it can be easy to spoil the appearance of a tree so if you decide to take this task upon yourself make sure to step back and check your work regularly before removing further branches.

With more mature trees, where you would need to be working up a ladder to remove branches thicker than your wrist, it would be best to call in a professional tree surgeon.

A professional tree surgeon can also reduce the overall size of the canopy, ideal if your tree has grown too big and is now blocking out the sun.

Before carrying out any DIY tree work make sure you know if the tree has a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) or not. Your local council will have a tree officer who can advise you on the TPO status.

Don’t want to do any of the above?

If none of this is possible then all is not lost!

There are plenty of attractive plants which thrive in the shade. The Royal Horticultural Society website will tell you which plants can grow away from sunshine.

Come the hot summer, your shade will be the envy of your neighbours across the road!

If you need help with your trees or hedges, contact Climbers Way Tree Care