Tree Work at Gutterbridge

We had the guys from Acacia Tree Surgery at Gutterbridge Plantation last week. They have been completing the work on trees that have been deemed dangerous by our tree health survey, because they had the potential to fall on footpaths or the road that runs along the front of the wood. We had done some of the work ourselves, but had to ask the experts in to deal with any trees that involved climbing, as none of the Rangers have the qualifications to use a chainsaw up a tree. I was told by Niki, that the Acacia guys are fearless, cutting tree limbs, while haning from the same tree, with the cut branches zooming past the to the ground.
The work involved felling a couple of trees that were rotted out at the bottom, thinning the crowns of a few more and clearing some that came down during the high winds last winter. One of the most important aspects of the task was surveying each tree before it came down. They checked there were no birds nests or bat roosts in any of the trees and have felled some in such a way that the main trunk of the tree has been left standing, providing ideal potential nest and roost sites. The small bits of wood that came down have been left in habitat piles for lots of different invertebrates and small mammals to find a home in, and the larger chunks are going to be used by the Swaffum Bulleck work parties as benches and table in the glade areas of the wood.

An Acacia Tree Surgeon, doing his stuff.