Hollow birch felled in poor condition
The birch was hollow and had a longitudinal crack of 5 cm from root to crown. Dead branches regularly fell out. Particularly from the top. Life-threatening and that is why an emergency hood was used.
This morning I received a call asking if I wanted to come by to look at a birch in Alkmaar. Usually good photos are enough to assess a situation and provide a quote, so I asked if some photos could be sent first. Long live WhatsApp. While we were on the phone, some photos were immediately sent to me. What I saw then was something I had never seen before. A birch tree that had an elongated rotting opening from the root to the crown (see photo). The question was whether this tree could be pruned so that the residents would enjoy it for years to come, or whether it was necessary to cut down this tree. You can guess three times...... Because this tree posed an acute danger to the environment and was therefore life-threatening, I urged immediate action. In these types of situations involving very bad trees, you are not insured because the owner has not fulfilled his duty of care for trees. Moreover, this situation is life-threatening and you obviously do not want it to continue.
Due to the acute danger, I have adjusted my agenda to cut down this tree immediately.
Once I climbed the tree (not very relaxed in this unstable tree) I saw that 2 meters from the top was almost completely rotten and along the way there were very large wounds that looked like lightning damage (very large branches torn off).
In any case, it is not an unnecessary luxury to cut down this tree immediately.
The owner helped me very well with holding the safety rope, so that all branches ended up neatly in their own garden and not at the neighbors'.
The neighbors were very happy with the trunk as firewood.
Then pruned a smaller tree. Here too there is extensive rot at a branch division (co-dominant). Crown illuminated and taken. Nature Conservation Act
Under the Nature Conservation Act (formerly the Flora and Fauna Act), it is prohibited to disturb, chase or alarm protected animals by felling or tree pruning. Even if the animals are near the tree and not in the tree itself. For example, if there are bird nests in a tree of birds that return there annually, or bird nests of breeding birds. The breeding season is not important. What matters is whether a bird breeds or not.
In the case of this birch in poor condition, there were no nests or resting places of animals in or around the tree.
If you see this, or other damage, in your own tree, let us provide a free tree assessment and advice.
This tree was pruned by us. Crown lightening and crown intake/rejuvenation.
Photos from this project
