Have you ever walked past a team of tree surgeons as they are dismantling an awkward tree?  Maybe there are powerlines running alongside the tree or a delicate structure that they have to avoid.  A lot of people are interested in what we do and how we do it, understanding that that it takes a great deal of skill, experience and training to tackle a large tree as the wind blows and the rain comes down and every piece of material has to come down into an area the size of a small garden shed!  That could be someone’s idea of a real nightmare, but to most of us it’s an enjoyable challenge that it is very rewarding.

From time to time we are asked to assess the structural integrity of a specimen which maybe raising concerns for a customer. An indicator of potential decay is sometimes (but not limited to) a fungal fruiting body protruding from the wood or root area around a tree, and depending on what species of fungi these fruiting bodies belong to, we can gauge whether a look inside the stem is necessary or not.

Did you know Mistletoe is a true parasite? i.e. it needs a host plant on which to live and draw its nourishment from. Its preferred host is the cultivated apple and I’ve certainly seen it quite a few times on various apple trees in East Devon and further afield.

We’ve had a lot of enquiries about Ash Dieback (or Chalara fraxinea) lately. The most up to date advice is DON’T PANIC!

When they think of tree surgeons, most people think of climbers swinging round in trees, wielding chainsaws, their ground crews feeding cut material through chippers below. Not an unreasonable preconception either as this broadly covers the bulk of work undertaken by many tree surgery companies across the UK.

Dartmoor Tree Surgeons joined forces with South West Water and other contractors to raise money for WaterAid at Meldon reservoir last month.

It’s fair to say that most of us don’t want to pay more than absolutely necessary for any product or service, but is cheapest wisest? The first step is always to define what it is we’re looking for, perhaps a television or a car. Or tree work.

Wood chippings are brilliant for so many reasons, see here one of the many uses for wood chippings and learn its potential as a valuable recycled material.

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.

Not all timber is appropriate for milling and with log prices at an all time high converting timber into firewood is almost certainly a worthwhile consideration if you have a use for it…