Good day as part of assessing trees not only do i assess trees from the ground but occasionally I get asked to assess defects in trees canopy here i am assessing a defect at a defect approx. 13 meters above ground in a 32 meters tall Eucalyptus saligna Sydney Blue Gum. The defect is at a branch junction.

The new 10/50 vegetation clearing rule comes into effect tomorrow, giving people living near bushland another tool to prepare their homes for bush fire. The rule allows people in designated areas to remove trees within 10 metres of their home and underlying vegetation within 50 metres. You can check if it applies to your home at http://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/plan-and-prepare/1050-vegetation-clearing/tool - Police and Emergency Services Minister Stuart Ayres and Commissioner Shane Fitzsimmons have launched the online tool in the Blue Mountains this morning.

New tree risk assessment quilifications

Good day about 4 weeks ago I attended the International Society of Arboricutural Tree Risk assessment qualification course today I am please to announce that I passed the course which included 100 theory questions and a performance based exam

HEDRA Conference 2014

Good day during the HEDRA conference the importance of tree around our homes was 1 topic discussed. Plantet ark did a recent survey and some interesting results where found. such as Australians would be willing to pay an average $35,000 more about 7% of cost of their home to live in a green neighborhood, Around a third 34% would pay an extra $100,000 or more to live in a green area about 2 thirds of Australians 65% would prefer to buy a home in a nature filled area. Trees also offer other benefits an area with trees is 7% cooler how much would that save during our hot summers. There is also the benefits to our health for social entertainment BBQ etc. Lets consider the benefits before we just remove trees

Good day yesterday Friday 18th July I attended Housing Engineering Design and research Association (HEDRA) Were Engineers, Arborist, Councils, Landscape architects, and others gather to discuss issues with the environment and of course this included trees. I found the topics discussed to be of interest and educational. The Keynote speaker was Walter Jehne who I was lucky enough to sit next to during the seminar with Dr Greg Moore the second speaker both had some very interesting topics and raised issues for discussion over the next week I will be posting more on what was discussed and the relaxants to us all.

Good day with the coming of the windy season it is always good to assess your trees for their structure and stability most people concentration on the roots system looking for soil or root movement but other stress,es can also occur such as Torsion which is the twisting of the tree and its branches causing branch failure or shear stress in the trunk (see photo) Torsional stress occurs when a branch/trunk or root twists leading to maximum stress near the perimeter. trees with asymmetrical crown or branches with asymmetrical foliage distribution may experience an uneven wind load, resulting in higher levels or torsion, recently exposed trees can also experience torsion stress that they are not normally exposed to high levels of wind this could be because they have had trees or building recently removed or in the sample in the photo the tree may have grown above other trees or structures. Torsion has not received a great deal of attention in tree mechanics, it is likely a significant factor, especially in branch failure

Tree risk assessments in School grounds

Over the past several months I have been very busy with assessing trees in school grounds from Emu Plains to Lithgow out at Oberon and Bathurst this all occurred after the tragic incident in Richmond earlier in the year when a young girl was killed and others injured when a tree branch fell. This project involved around 30 primary and High Schools at an average of 150 trees per school. During the assessment of these trees, most were in good condition but some of the concerns noticed were: • large dead trees, • trees with: defective junctions both trunk and branch • inclusions that were starting to fail, • hollow and decayed trees • The amount of dead wood in the trees. During this time I have also been commissioned by several councils, Sydney trains, private residents and National Parks as an independent Consulting Arborist to visibly assess trees and conduct Picus Sonic Tomography tests. In June SAI Global conducted the annual audit of my ISO qualifications and again was assessed to retain this level of competency. In February 2014, as part of my continual learning I attended a 3 day Tree Anatomy workshop. We looked at roots, branches and trunks and their different growth stages under a microscope. When assessing trees that are not well, this knowledge and experience will allow me to make a more in depth assessment of what is causing problems with your trees. In June I attended the International Society of Arboriculture (ISA) Tree Risk Assessment Qualification (TRAQ) course. This is similar to the Visible Tree Assessment (VTA) used in the past but provides a more accurate and quantifiable assessment of risk. On determining the likelihood and consequence of a risk, I will work with you to agree what to do to mitigate such risk and manage for these actions to be implemented. Discussions with several of my clients from councils and other agencies, it is clear that the TRAQ tree risk assessment procedure is the preferred process and I will be adopting this as my standard in future. Attending workshops and seminars such as these, reading research documents and journals, and networking with my peers and clients increases my knowledge and maintains my technical currency in this growing (pun intended) profession of Arboriculture. Looking forward to working with you again soon and please contact me by phone if you have any Arboricutural questions or need a quote.