Aspen Tree Service

Aspen Tree Service Inc.

3 days ago

On our shared post from yesterday we were asked if the tree looks completely healthy how would we make the determination to cut it down just because we noticed a fruiting body. This is our response....
The fruiting body is just the first sign of a problem that the tree would need thorough assessment to determine the extent of further potential for failure by a qualified Arborist. It's the sign that signals an Arborist to dig further (the "proper action" noted above). The failure was opposite the visual uprooted plate and I wouldn't call that a "large" portion of the root plate as a true root plate is generally going to be at minimum half a foot in radius for each inch of dbh. In this case the root plate should continue 15-20' past the flare, not 3'. I say generally because there are plenty of instances where that will not be true, but in this case it should have been. I belive a proper assessment and conclusion in this case for the most point would heavily rely on the experience, knowledge, and competence of the Arborist. So now that you know a wood decaying organism is present, what do you do? First do your best to id it and narrow the list of suspects, plenty of good books and resources out there for that. Once you're fairly certain it's evidence of fungi that can cause decay in trees start your assessment. There's no way to truly "treat" it and in most cases treatment involves removal of the whole tree. The damage is done and there are few options that will help slow the spread or eliminate the organism. But let's say the tree has extreme value to the client (after all its not your job to force them to cut it down just because you saw a mushroom, just to give your best educated guess on the probability of failure so they can make a proper decision, and this isn't a case where any j.o. with a tree company can do that) How do you determine the extent or guide the homeowner in making their decision to remove the tree..... I'll help you out, there are many options. Start with visual inspections, here a trained Arborist would have noticed swelling and depressions in the trunk tissue beyond that typical to Fagus spp, that's a starting point. At those points (that the arborists expects additional decay) you can start with different levels of testing. You can sound the wood with a mallet, drill small samples and inspect the drill shavings and analyze the pressure required to drill, you can utilize a resistograph to find pockets of decay or damaged and compromise wood fiber, if you have at your disposal you can use seismic tools to obtain readouts and analysis of wood density, you can probe roots trying to find soft tissue or compromised sections of anchoring root structure, you can air excavate in the immediate area of the root plate and further visually inspect anchoring roots, probe them, analyze them. Then you take all this data you just obtained and draw your conclusion to present to the owner of the tree. How far do you think it has spread, how much of the root system you belive to be compromised, how elevated is the likelihood of failure under normal conditions? under dynamic loading conditions? Take all this and use it to determine your best guess at the extent of the potential for failure in a situation such as this. If they decide to remove than the action is clear. Let's say they decide to keep it... then promote proper cultural practices to increase tree vigor, consider pruning options such as crown reduction to reduce static and dynamic loading, maintain the area and try to reduce a favorable environment for the decay organism.

In this case there was a large pocket of decay at the buttress root zone that would have easily been picked up with further analysis and this situation could have been avoided. ... See MoreSee Less