Effective Tree Management Made Easy

Like them or loathe them, trees and shrubs play a vital role for life on earth as we know it. With good management, our grounds can be aesthetically pleasing with a vast array of colour all year round, offering diverse shapes, shades, textures, smells and sounds, sustaining wildlife and even providing fruit to excite our tastes.

Ineffective tree placement or management, on the other hand, can lead to damage to buildings or injury to people, resulting in expensive claims, legal bills and remedial costs.

Tree Management

Good tree management starts with planning and design, and schools need to ask themselves a series of questions before commencing planting.

For example, why are the trees needed and where? What species of trees should be planted? How many should be planted? What is the optimum size to plant? What is the budget for planting, establishment and after-care? Who is going to do the work? And what experience and qualifications do they have?

There is always a balance between the benefits of having the trees and the cost involved in maintaining them. And ultimately, if the costs outweigh the perceived benefits, schools often decide on a policy of tree removal.

How can Schools Control Costs?

• Only plant trees that will survive in the desired locations. Knowing species’ attributes and ensuring that planting stock is healthy will save losses.
• Plant the ideal sized stock. Don’t forget that smaller trees can often be more cost effective.
• Use trusted personnel to plant, taking care in preparation and operation.
• Invest in after-care. It is false economy to have little or no after-care – stakes need removing (normally after one year), watering may need to be carried out and formative pruning may be necessary to avoid weak or diseased trees. Many problem or dangerous trees develop because correct pruning was not carried out in the early years of their growth.
• Have a clear plan for growth or replacement. A healthy tree will increase in size each year so why plant a tree that will need pruning every two or three years due to space constraints? It is better to choose a tree that will fill the space on maturity, or to plant a replacement tree before the existing tree needs removing and then fell to reveal the new specimen.
• Have trees regularly surveyed. Schools are under legal obligations to take reasonable steps to ensure the safety of both the public and employees, and surveys can spot problems at an early stage thus reducing later costs.

Experience

It can certainly pay to enlist the services of qualified and experienced consultants when designing your school grounds. Consultants can advise on health and safety and legal issues; trees near buildings; species selection and planning; pruning; tree re-location; tree protection; conservation and woodland management.

They can ensure that your school grounds maximise their potential and use trees to create an inspiring and sustainable environment for all.

To contact Treescape Arboricultural Consultants and Technicians please email RlmSwan@hotmail.com or phone 07904 023 012.