Tree Survey followed by take down of Holm Oak tree from the car park at a soon-to-open children’s home in Westbury

Posted on 28 September 202230 January 2023 by Debbie Newman

Clear results were showing the cross-section of decay present in a tree removed from the car park of a soon-to-open children’s home in Westbury in the grounds of the former Chalford House Hotel. This was all confirmed in the PICUS report. As you can see, the tree looked perfectly healthy from the outside but had to be taken down as it was unsafe, especially over a car park. And we needed to wait until the birds had finished nesting to undertake the work.

Well done by all involved; the new spider MEWP proving its worth, along with the timber crane o remove the timber; no heavy lifting at CC Ltd!

Removal of 100 ft Cedar of Lebanon in Worton

Posted on 29 April 202131 January 2023 by Debbie Newman

Sad to see this go – a local landmark coming down in Worton due to decay.

The decay, which you can see in the photo, was detected in the base of this 100 ft Cedar of Lebanon. Using the Picus Sonic Tomograph, the decay was clear.

This was the last one of six that were there before the houses were built on Cedar Close; now, perhaps Cedar-less Close!

The trunk was taken down to the West Country for wood carving into something quite unique. Howard & Sons undertook the haulage

A replacement tree has been planted.

For details of our tree surveys see here

And for the case study using the Picus Sonic Tomograph, please see here

100ft Cedar of Lebanon Tree that Conservation Contractors had been tasked to remove

And our post in November 2022 will tell you about its wonderful transformation into this tabletop.

Copper Beech Tree Dismantle, Potterne

Posted on 10 January 2018 by Debbie Newman

We had to dismantle this veteran beech tree in December, following a survey using a Picus test…

The tree, Fagus sylvatica purperea, had a diameter 2150mm, an 8m circumference and was 18m tall

We used Picus Sonic Tomograph technology; this is a specialised electronic instrument which can ‘look’ internally into a branch or tree trunk and display a computer-generated image of its condition. It achieves this by measuring the speed that sound travels through the wood in a number of different positions and directions. Sound travels fastest through solid wood. Decayed wood will slow its path. By measuring the speed that sound takes to pass through a tree, an idea of its condition can be obtained. In this case, the Tomograph showed a central cavity surrounded by advanced and early decay and the report’s conclusion was to fell the tree as soon as practically possible, and for the work to be carried out by a fully-qualified and insured tree surgeon to BS3998 (tree work) which of course we are!

You’ll see from the pictures below that there is very little viable timber at the base. What there was, was cut up for the client’s use.

For more information about our tree surveys, please see here: https://www.conservation-contractors.co.uk/services/tree-surveys/ or if you are concerned about one of your trees and think a Picus test would be sensible, please email William.