Treel neThe International Society of ArboricultureUK and Ireland Chapter Official Magazine

Autumn 2013

This issue includes:london ride for research by russell Ball,

SMAcks of a Great Day Out! by Ian McDermott,life on an english Oak by Gylnn Percival and

luke Hailey

Contents 3 editor’s Comment

A few words fromCharlotte McDermott

4 executive Director’s SayA few words from Ian McDermott

26 events CalendarNotable events for this year

27 ContactsThe people to call with your queries

Features

5 Urban Tree HealthAndy Hillman

6 Mulching for Tree HealthGylnn Percival and Luke Hailey

8 laurence Vine-ChattertonAppointed

10 life on an english OakGlynn Percival and Luke Hailey

15 Global SubmissionsSue James

16 VolunteerismAnonymous

18 SMAcks of a Great Day Out!Ian McDermott

20 london ride for researchRussell Ball

22 latest r2 DevelopmentsKerry Todkill

24 The 2014 Tour Des TreesTanya Mohn

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Editor’s CommentDear readers,

Last year was an interesting year, including the annual conference held in Toronto alongside the International Tree Climbing Champion-ships and the London Ride for Research, but as we wave goodbye to 2013 we wave hello to 2014, which will hopefully be another great

year for you all.

You can read about the SMA course held during the conference in Toronto, as well as the R4R, in this issue of Treeline, along with a couple of articles from the Bartlett experts, amongst

other things.

This year’s conference will be held in Milwau-kee, so that’s one to put in your diaries, as I’m

sure it’ll be another good one.

I hope you all have a fantastic start to the new year and please look forward to the Spring is-

sue of 2014!

— Charley

This year has been busy for the Chapter with lots going on around the country, right from the get go at Caple Manor the team have been working hard at Kew, Highclere Castle, Arb Camp. Big thanks to all those who have given up time to come and muck in to produce some great events, too many to list here and of course to all the mem-bers that have attend the events. We have also been successful in Canada and Swit-zerland with the talents of our Chapter TCC climbers, but I will let you read all about that in the pages that follow.

The chapter is busy planning more TRAQ training and assessment course in the near future, following the successes of the first in October, be quick if you want a place on this next one, I am sure it’s going to be pop-ular going forward and this will be the sec-ond of many.

It is no secret that like many in the industry the chapter has been feeling the pinch this last few years. The Chapter Executive and Board of Directors have been working hard to trim the sails to help run a leaner faster ship in these choppy financial waters. The Chapter is always keen to run workshops, seminars and fundraisers so if you have any fresh ideas that you think will help the Chapter please come forward and contact Jean at the office or myself. The chapter is here to serve you and help you in your cho-sen career and in the present economy that mission is so much more important. We are hoping to announce a big event planned for the spring very soon, so watch this space.

This winter after promising preliminary talks with AA, we will be arranging formal talks to move the ISA UK&I Chapter and the AA

President’sPulpit

closer to being one in the same organi-sation. The members continued support and encouragement is much appreciated. I hope after many years we might final suc-ceed to in creating a one, all encompass-ing, representative association to lead our industry forward as it continues to grow.

Alexander LaverISA UK&I Chapter President

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www.urban-forestry.com 9

Urban Tree Health: A Practical and Precise Estimation Method by Jerry Bond was pub-lished in 2012 by Urban Forest Analytics, LCC. It is part of a moder-ately technical Visual Identification Series that relies on high-quali-ty photographs with con-cise and clear captions.

The book features scores of color photo-graphs and diagrams that clearly illustrate the premise of the author,

that there is a need for an urban tree health estima-tion methodology that is both practical and precise. The author gradually builds a strong case for this necessity.

Dr. Bond begins with an overview of the new method and follows with a section that provides context by defining terminology and establishing scope. Five parameters: ratio, opacity, vitality, growth, and quality are introduced and together they make up the core of the urban tree health method.

Much of the book is devoted to observation and interpretation details relating to the five parameters. The author makes thoughtful points and raises many questions for the arboricultural community which might prove very helpful in creating an industry stan-dard for tree health estimation.

When the author explains proxy variables and the formula for Net Primary Production, he moves a little beyond “moderately technical” in my opinion. I would instead characterize the book as technical, but made surprisingly accessible by the logical way it is pre-sented and the excellent photographs and captions.

I had the pleasure of trying out the urban tree health estimation method with Dr. Bond and a large contingent from the New York ReLeaf Conference in Buffalo, NY in July, 2012. I found the method practical because the parameters were easily esti-mated and recorded. It was precise in that we usu-ally arrived at the same conclusions. The group of participants in the workshop had varying levels of experience. Included were students, shade tree committee members, professional arborists, and others—and all appeared to be successfully employ-ing the method.

In my opinion, a good use for this method is docu-menting and reporting tree health over time, as in

a preservation plan or following tree stress caused by site devel-opment activities. Other uses for the urban tree health estimation method proposed in the book include research, response to treatment, valuation of individual trees, and evaluation of tree pop-ulations. I agree this is a useful tool and highly recommend the book to arborists and research-ers. Educators, volunteers, and others interested in tree health will also find this book compre-hensible and useful.

Urban Tree Health Estimator Version 1.0 is an accompanying data collection app that runs on free software for Android (includ-ing Kindle) devices.

—Andy Hillman, SMA Past President Dr. Jerry Bond leads a workshop at the New York ReLeaf Conference in Buffalo in 2012.

Urban Tree Health

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Mulching for Tree HealthLuke Hailey and Glynn PercivalBartlett Tree Research Laboratory

Benefits of Mulching

For decades the benefits of mulches have been recognized in aboriculture, agriculture and hor-ticulture. Despite its simplicity, mulching has numerous benefits and a few disadvantages. Mulch-es have great potential as a plant health amendment. This article focuses on wood based mulches rather than herbaceous or inor-ganic examples.

Mulches reduce the need for wa-tering and reduce fluctuations in soil moisture content by replac-ing ground covering vegetation and forming a barrier between the soil and air. This physical barrier also suppresses weeds and stops them from competing with the tree for water and nutri-ents. Mulches also act as a fertil-iser; they break down over time and release nutrients directly into the root zone of the tree. The in-crease in soil moisture and break down of the mulch encourages larger soil fauna such as worms and beetles which improve the physical structure of the soil by burrowing around, helping to al-leviate compaction, increasing drainage, fertilizing and boosting the soil microbe population.

Soil-borne pathogens such as Phytophora, Armillaria (Honey Fungus), Fusarium and Rhizoc-tonia species are increasingly recognized as economically im-portant pathogens. Mulching has shown great potential for their prevention and control. Short-term effects of mulches include increased soil moisture, soil tem-perature moderation, improved

soil nutrition, aggregation and drainage. Thus, mulches main-tain a soil environment optimal for healthy root growth and by default induce a soil environment sub-optimal for opportunistic soil-borne pathogens. Physically, mulches also reduce splashing of rain or irrigation water, which can carry spores of disease causing organisms to the stems or leaves of susceptible tree species.

It is recognized that mulching causes a build up of positively in-fluencing microbes in the soil; the rate of mulch breakdown will ac-tually increase until the maximal microbial level is reached. These microbes increase the enzymic activity in the soil, producing en-zymes which can literally digest pathogens such as Phytophora. Non-pathogenic microbes will also compete against pathogens in a bio-control fashion. Organic mulches contain beneficial mi-crobes originally present on the source plants and can be com-posted to boost their numbers. Trees can root into the mulch lay-er which is particularly well de-fended from pathogens, due to its resident microbe flora, aeration and increased drainage.

Considerations

The source of a mulch and plant material a mulch is derived from is important, living plants are of-ten in competition with each oth-er, which has lead to the evolu-tion of allellopathy. This is where a plant produces and secretes chemicals which negatively im-pact the growth of others. These allelopathic chemicals can be

present in wood and bark and so can be released by the mulch as it breaks down. Notable examples are: walnut, eucalyptus, cypress and acacia. Mulches made from these trees can be toxic to other plants.

Another important consideration is the health of the source tree i.e. tree to be mulched. If these trees are infected with a pathogen which can survive on deadwood such as honey fungus, the mulch can spread this to trees it is ap-plied to. It is also highly impor-tant to not bury the root crown of the tree; this can lead to damage of this important junction be-tween roots and trunk due to in-creased moisture, cell death and subsequent pathogen attack.

Pure Mulches

Pure mulches are mulches con-sisting of material derived from a single tree species. Most mulch available commercially is often pine bark but pure mulches stud-ied have been made from other tree species. Pure mulches allow tailoring of mulches for a spe-cific purpose. The composition and chemical makeup of material from different tree species varies greatly. Certain species will have higher levels of sugars, lignin, cellulose and a greater variety of secondary metabolites includ-ing allelochemicals, all of which have various benefits. Allelop-athic chemicals can activate the growth and defence system of the plant the mulch is applied to. For example water soluble extracts of various pure mulches and found that those made from hawthorn, cherry, silver birch, English and evergreen oak increased germi-nation rates, relative growth rate and photosynthetic efficiency of plants.

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Previous Work

The UK Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory has assessed the ben-efits of pure mulches on a range of tree species. Hawthorn and cherry mulches reduced trans-plant mortality of a range of widely cultivated ornamentals by 60-80%. These pure mulches also increased crown growth of apples and pears by 100-150% and increased fruit yields by 100-200%. On horse chestnut, we found mulches could reduce Phy-tophora root rot lesions by up to 60% and subsequently increase tree growth. Our present work in-cludes looking at the benefits of willow mulches in protecting ash trees from Chalara ash die-back, which may wipe out 90-95% of ash trees within the UK. Willow mulches naturally contain sali-cylic acid, a natural and potent plant defence activator.

In conclusion, with pressures to find non-chemical means of pathogen control stimulated by public and government demands to reduce pesticide usage, pure mulches potentially have a posi-tive impact for those involved in the care and maintenance of ur-ban, nursery, forestry and orchard trees as well as horticultural crop production systems. Practically mulches require little capital in-vestment and only small adjust-ments to standard management aftercare procedures and may provide a useful cultural manage-ment strategy to aid in the control of potentially devastating tree diseases.

Mulching Tips

1. Mulch should be applied from the drip line to the trunk. If this is not practical, minimum mulch circle radii should be 0.3m for small trees, 1m for medium trees

and 3m for large trees.

2. When applying mulch it is best to kill or remove existing ground cover or at least mow the grass very short and remove clippings. Mulch should be applied direct-ly to the soil surface, do not use landscape fabric to separate the mulch from the soil.

3. A mulch layer should be 5-10cm thick depending on the tree species and type of mulch applied.

4. To avoid root disruption for most species mulch should not be removed. Additional mulch should be added to maintain a 5-10cm depth on an annual basis.

5. Mulch should not be placed against the trunk. Mulch will re-tain too much moisture against the trunk that may result in dis-ease.

The Arboricultural Association announced today that Laurence Vine–Chatterton has been appointed to the organisation’s board of trustees. As both treasurer and a trustee he will be responsible for overseeing the association’s financial viability and ensur-ing that its affairs are conducted within the remit of its legal obligations and constitu-tional objectives. Vine-Chatterton replaces Geoff McClure who resigned the post ear-lier this year.

Having originally qualified as an account-ant at Price Waterhouse, Laurence has held a number of senior management posts in Canada and Europe including Nokia and Novar plc. As President of Intermet Europe from 1999 to 2008 he oversaw the group’s global expansion and final sale of the com-pany’s European interests to the Sakthi Au-tomotive Group. He also chairs the Audit committee for the Surrey and Borders Part-nership NHS Foundation Trust.

Karen Martin CEO of the Association com-mented on the appointment:

“Laurence brings a wealth of experience and knowledge to the trustee board at a very important time in the association’s de-velopment. His commercial experience, ad-vice and counsel will no doubt prove invalu-able as we strive to extend and improve the benefits that we offer to our members. I am sure I echo the management team’s view in both welcoming Laurence to the board of trustees and looking forward to working

Laurence Vine-Chatterton appointedas Co-opted Treasurer

to Arboricultural Associationwith him in the future.”

Since 1964 the Arboricultural Association has been the national body in the UK and Ireland for the amenity tree care profes-sional in either civic or commercial em-ployment at craft, technical, supervisory, managerial or consultancy level. There are currently over 2,000 members of the Arbo-ricultural Association in a variety of mem-bership classes.

The Charitable objective of the Arboricul-tural Association is to Advance the Science of Arboriculture for the Public Benefit.

It does this by setting standards, promoting standards and enabling compliance.

The Arboricultural Association’s Website is www.trees.org.uk

The MalthouseStroud Green, Standish

StonehouseGloucestershire

GL10 3DLTel: 01242 522152

Email: admin@trees.org.ukWeb: www.trees.org.uk

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Phil Wade, Director – Sorbus International Ltd

Sorbus International Limited are leading suppliers of specialist & hi-tech equipment to the ar-boriculture, forestry, utility, grounds maintenance, landscaping & environmental care sectors in

the UK & worldwide.

In late 2012 the PICUS 3 was launched; the most compact, lightweight, fastest & user friendly PICUS system ever.

The PICUS 3 hardware is a complete re-design & the result of this and the new Q73 software

means time on site is effectively halved compared with previous PICUS systems.

Quentin Nicholls, Managing Director of Arbortrack Systems Ltd comments: “After 10 years of getting to know the PICUS, it was time for us to take the plunge and buy the PICUS 3.

The first thing you notice is the smaller case, which is now not much bigger than a standard briefcase. I found the PICUS 3 to be easier to use on site and there is no longer the need for a PC as the PICUS 3 will store the records of dozens of trees. The sensor belts are more stream-lined & easier to handle & it also has built-in GPS and a clinometer to accurately measure the

heights of trees.

I would also thoroughly recommend purchasing the electronic callipers as these are simple to operate and considerably speeds up the time taken for each inspection.”

Please contact Sorbus International Limited for more information on the PICUS 3 or go to our website www.sorbus-intl.co.uk 9

Life on an English OakBy Luke Hailey and Glynn Percival

As any and everyone who works in the arboricultural in-dustry is aware, both acute oak decline and sudden oak death represent a major threat to our national tree, the English oak. The ecological value of oaks is frequently talked about, how-ever, a full ecological “work up” of exactly what insects do live on the tree has surprisingly re-ceived little attention… until now. In a recent study, Mr Luke Hailey and Dr Glynn Percival of the Bartlett Tree Research Laboratory collected and re-corded the insect communities present on a number of English Oaks; Quercus robur, located in Barnes Common, London. English Oaks are thought have the highest importance to wild-life of any native tree species. Although requiring a micro-scope to view the majority in any detail, a rich variety of in-sects were found on the study oaks with varying lifestyles, di-ets and behaviours; some rath-er surprising and sometimes slightly horrifying. For reasons of clarity each insect group is discussed separately.

Chewing Insects

Chewing insects were a varied group, consisting mainly of lar-vae from several different in-sect orders as well as a number of adult beetles. Adult weevils were a charming group, often having iridescent scales (Fig.1) or unique features such as the long rostrum (mouthparts) of Curculio species (Fig.2) used for chewing a hole into acorns into which their eggs are laid. While fly larvae were easy to recognize, having no legs (Fig.3), free-living sawfly larvae were trickier to tell from those of butterflies and moths (Fig.4). The telling features to distin-guish between these insects are the numbers of prolegs (the wider, more rounded legs) and eye structure. For example saw-flies have only one simple eye on each side of the head and have six plus pairs of prolegs on their abdomen (Fig.5).

Leaf-miners

Leaf-miners are larvae, main-

ly of butterflies and moths, but sometimes wasps, beetles or flies. Leaf-miners live in,

and eat, the interior of leaves. You may have seen invasive leaf-miner damage on horse chestnut trees, which has much more impact than native leaf-miners on English oaks. Feeding damage in the form of leaf-mines come in varying shapes and locations on the leaf and, along with other charac-teristics such as the distribu-tion of waste inside the mines, are characteristic of the species which made them. Leaf-miner larvae are generally flattened and translucent (Fig.6) making them harder to observe from outside the mine.

Sucking insects

Sucking insects were another

important group in the insect community of English oaks. The group consisted of He-miptera which have special straw-like mouthparts (Fig.7) for “tapping” into the plant and sucking sap, while thrips (aka thunderbugs) which are very small and pierce/scrape plant cells to drink sap. The prom-inent groups of Hemiptera found on the study trees were aphids, leafhoppers, and scale insects.

Hemiptera also formed part of the predators found on oaks. While the majority of them use their mouthparts or rostrum,

to suck the fluids from plants, some have turned to sucking the innards from other insects.

In the case of assassin bugs for example, their rostrum has changed to suit this, becom-ing shorter and thicker with a curve. The rostrum is used to inject digestive fluids and then consume liquidized tis-sues. In the case of Empicoris vagabundus, this assassin bug has gained other predatory fea-tures such as raptoral front legs (Fig.8), like those of a praying mantis.

Predators

The majority of predators found on the English oak trees were

spiders. Some were among the larger insects collected. Spiders show great variation in the size of their eyes, legs and mouth-parts according to their ecolog-ical niche. Spiders often feed in a similar fashion to the assassin bugs, injecting digestive flu-ids and then sucking the prey dry, having previously killed it by injecting venom. Lacewing larvae were another interesting predator with distinctive long mandibles for catching and consuming prey (Fig.9).

Mites

Mites are smaller arachnids, being related to spiders but more closely to ticks. They can be harmful to plants e.g. spider mites, but many are scavengers, important for breaking down waste in the ecosystem of the tree. Harvestmen, which are larger mites, also have a similar function. Psocids aka barklice (Fig.10) are another group of important scavengers on oak.

Parasites and parasitoids

One mite found was parasitic, having latched onto a gnat to feed (Fig.11). Parasites and par-asitoids were one of the most interesting groups found on the study oaks, although not for the squeamish. Parasitoids are similar to parasites and spend a significant part of their life living on and off a host, but are distinguished by actually kill-ing, sterilizing or consuming the host. Polysphincta and re-lated species are ectoparasitoid wasps, meaning their larvae

live on the outside of a young spider host (Fig.12). The adult wasp temporarily paralyzes the spider and lays an egg near the waist of the abdomen where the spider cannot remove it. The larva then hatches and feeds from the host’s body fluid. The larva bides its time, allowing the host to grow and removing just sufficient host body fluids to stay alive until the spider is large enough to provide a sub-stantial feast. Once the host is sensed to be the right size, the larvae quickly sucks it dry,

growing rapidly, and pupates into the winged adult form to start a new lifecycle.Other parasitoid wasps are en-doparasitoids, with their eggs being laid directly into the host. The larvae then consume the non-vital parts of the host’s body. Afterwards, the host, of-ten dead but sometimes only immobilized, is used to protect the wasp larvae during pupa-tion and metamorphosis into the imago or adult. In our mi-croscopic search, aphids were commonly found like this, the ‘mummies’ appearing to have a swollen belly (Fig.13) with the

cocoon joined to the leaf surface (Fig.14) and the larvae curled up safely inside (Fig.15). Par-asitoid wasps are even known to parasitize each other! Spe-cies which do this are known as hyperparasitoids and are a demonstration of the complex levels of ecology present even at micro-scales. Many of the wasps found were so small they were hard to study in any detail, even at high magnifications.

Luke Hailey and Glynn Percival

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GLOBAL SUBMISSIONS HERALD WORLD-CLASS PROGRAMMEFOR 2014 TREES, PEOPLE & THE BUILT ENVIRONMENT II

The call for papers for the major inter-national urban trees research conference Trees, People and the Built Environment II (TPBEII) has now closed, with submissions from a record number of countries and a guarantee from the conference partners of a world-class programme. In addition, five re-nowned organisations have been secured as headline sponsors in a move that reaffirms the position of the conference as the pre-mier event for professionals working with trees and green infrastructure in the built environment.

The headline sponsors for TPBEII are Civ-ic Trees, which has been supplying, plant-ing and relocating mature and semi-mature trees since 1963, Deep Root, a leading urban landscape products and ecosystem services supplier, the Forestry Commission, Lend Lease, an international leader in property and infrastructure, and Myerscough Col-lege.

Chair of the conference steering group Dr Mark Johnston MBE commented “The huge success of the call for papers is tribute to the outstanding work of the members of the group. We received almost 100 submissions from 27 countries. Competition for slots at the conference was intense, but we can guar-

antee a world-class programme of high cali-bre speakers. They will join headline speak-ers Sir Terry Farrell CBE, Professor Timothy Beatley, and Professor Herbert Girardet.”

TPBEII is a pan-industry partnership initi-ative between more than 20 organisations representing professionals within the urban forestry and built environment sectors. It is hosted by the Institute of Chartered Forest-ers (ICF) as its 2014 National Conference and takes place 2-3 April, 2014 in Birming-ham.

The inaugural TPBE conference took place in 2011. More than 400 delegates are ex-pected to attend the 2014 event, bringing together tree professionals, landscape archi-tects, urban designers, engineers, architects, planners, ecologists and conservationists. It looks set to be one of the largest urban tree conferences ever held in Britain. Booking for the conference will open later in Novem-ber 2013.

Contact:Sue James, Coordinator, Trees and Design Action Group (www.tdag.org.uk)E-mail: sue.james1@virgin.netTel. 01974 821 673 or 077906 849 674

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Reading the recent Treeline article from Alistair Magee on his experience of representing his coun-try at the International Tree Climbing Competition in 2012, I admit to feeling quite surprised that someone actually put forward the sincere comments he did, about the value of the people, who through really hard work, enable these events to not just happen, but to be memorable and successful. The Volunteers. It also set me to thinking from a personal perspective, about how little is ever written about the volunteer-ism that the ISA (UK & I Chapter) depend upon to ensure this industry organisation carries on holding these competitive events.

Which side of the pond you live on, seems to play a large part in ‘Who’ volunteers, ‘Why’ they do it, and ‘What’ they get out of it.

In America, one of the most litigatious societies, where everybody sues everyone else for whatever happens wherever, Volunteerism is strangely, also pretty much, ‘a given’ - children are brought up with it and it seems genuinely to be an everyday part of their life, or perhaps they just make more noise about it than others who just quietly get on with it! Either way, it seems much easier to get interested volun-teers in the States than it is on our own Island.

I have read that in the USA, the benefits of volun-teerism are numerous, apparently including, (in no particular order), self satisfaction, relaxation, social-isation, status or reward, career opportunities and al-truism! Having watched and been part of many ‘vol-unteer led’ events, I cannot ever remember feeling relaxed or even sociable because the pressure to get things done is always intense. Self satisfaction is not something I recognise either, it usually comes with misplaced pride and always before a fall ! I defi-nitely don’t recollect achieving ‘Status or Reward’ over the years, and am fairly sure my career was not enhanced by the massive workload that being a vol-

unteer can entail - largely because there are always too few people available meaning the work load is too heavy for the few. That would leave Altruism - “disinterested and selfless concern for the well-being - or for the benefit of, others!” Hmm...

Personally, I think the reasons why people volunteer is simply, to help out, because they hope to make a difference and are willing to donate their time and skills freely, to benefit the Industry’s future. I don’t actually believe that at the time of offering volun-teer services, there is any personal fore thought about making yourself feel better, or the ‘self-satisfaction’

VOLUNTEERISM "The practice of volunteering your time or talents

for charitable, educational, or other worthwhileactivities, especially within your community."

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mentioned earlier, but there is no doubt that after the event, there is a feeling of relief it went well and a pleasure in being part of other peoples experienc-es. Many of the volunteers within the UK & I Chap-ter have been active since the beginning, (spanning 3 decades), and still contin-ue giving their services. I have often been told , it is a way of giving something back to the Industry and a means of ensuring their practical and technical ex-perience can be handed on to help younger less expe-rienced climbers to make tree work safer.

In the early days of the ‘Jamboree’ style of Climb-ing competitions, the spirit of those times was very much one of meeting up, catching up, showing each other new pieces of kit and new ways of using it, great ‘Craik’ around blaz-ing fires and a friendly rivalry in the trees. In rela-tive terms, the climbers at those Jamborees were just as skilful as the new generation of climbers today, given that they climbed to the extent that their equip-ment allowed them to. With the great leaps forward in the quality and diversity of today’s highly refined equipment, the emergence of new techniques allows today’s climbers to demonstrate the original basic skills in a very advanced way. Volunteers to organ-ise and run those past events seemed much easier to come by then, when the commercial rewards for a ‘Champion’ were not so high!

But, all things move on and where originally, the pleasure of taking part in the competition and pride in your ‘mates’ success (and possibly your own) were the rewards, the competitions now are differ-ent events where success can have a very meaning-ful commercial result, advertising opportunities and career uplifts, leaving less room for Volunteerism when commercial considerations have to take prior-ity for many climbers who, particularly in this eco-nomic climate, are understandably reluctant to step back from the rewards of competing when much needed business benefits can be the result of success-ful competition.

Whatever the reasons, the Chapter often seems short

of reliable volunteers to help with their events but by spreading the work load over more willing horses, the existing usual suspects won’t be flogged to death! If new, younger people don’t step forward to carry these events through into the future, there will be much more lost than just a competition; the cama-raderie, the discussion and exchange of views and techniques, the pleasure of being part of our Industry family and the pride in oth-ers achievements.

These things are priceless. So is being a Volunteer. You don’t get paid, you are often on the wrong end of a disappointed competitor’s mood and usually left to

clear up at the end of the event whilst everyone else is on their way home, but there are many special re-warding times too! Sometimes a Competitor even thanks you!

There is a real warmth inside, watching young climbers improve their performances over the years to eventually emerge as successful competitors, and there is the pleasure that you feel at the end of a suc-cessful event, having been part of it and helped other people to enjoy the experience as well.

I came across a phrase a while back, “We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give” It is good that some of our best climbers have taken part in workshops at trade shows etc., and encouraging to see the 2012 UK & I champion, vol-unteering at this year’s event. I would like to think that many more of our first class competitors will eventually become volunteers and benefit the new generation of young climbers, by passing on their experience and techniques and by giving something special back to the Industry that has been such an enriching part of their life.

I hope so, because if not, today’s volunteers who have worked so hard over many years for these events, may wonder why they did.

— ‘An olg nag’17

For me, one of the absolute essentials when at-tending the ISA annual international conference is to make it to the SMA day on the Wednes-day. It has been a constant source of idea’s and drive for me and part of that is meeting Munic-ipal Arborists from around the world and hear-ing how they deal with the same old problems we all endure when managing the interface be-tween people and trees!

I’ve only missed one SMA tour in the last few years (Chicago) and that was because it was fully booked up which certainly shows that I am not the only one who feels this way. This year however was a slight departure from the convention in as much as the tour was all day and not just part of the day and the reason? We were in Toronto, the land of the Urban Forest Programme and a whole day was never going to be enough to sample the extent of the work the city Foresters do here, but it was a pretty good window into their work none the less.

SMAcks of a great day out!The first half of the tour was led by Peter Simon, the Landscape Architect responsible for the two main projects we were looking at and none oth-er than Jim Urban, who is always worth the tick-et money whenever he speaks. Two coaches set off from the convention centre full of “Mu-ni’s” and we were introduced to the programme for the day by Pete and Jim and were then un-loaded in the downtown Toronto streets to look at some of the issues surrounding the establish-ment of city sidewalk trees and the innovations employed by the City to ease the progress of the tree into maturity.

We looked at various examples or rain gardens and detention pits where storm water is inter-cepted through small “gutters” set at the edge of the footways and the water runs into shrub beds and the tree pits. As you can see from the photo some errors were made in the size of the grates and many block up quickly with rubbish (in this case cigarette butts) but by and large they function well.

The group saw examples of flexible paving solutions where larger trees had been retained and various historical issues of small containers around large trees were discussed with some enthusiasm!

After a hearty impromptu boxed lunch hastily re-arranged due to the torrential rain we set off for the lakeside development known as “Sugar Beach” to the east of the City minus one Jim

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Urban who had another speaking date to get to. I think if I were to sum this project up from a European perspective it would be: how much!?

I have, like many tree managers, accepted the axiom that it is better to plant a $100 tree in a $200 hole rather than a $200 tree in a $100 hole. However a $50 tree in a $50,000 hole was quite a cultural shock!

If you want to take a look at the lakeside pro-ject we visited in the afternoon session there is some background video and info here from 2010: http://www.blogto.com/city/2010/08/will_silva_cells_help_improve_torontos_urban_forest/

There is no doubt at all that Toronto has achieved some of the highest extension growth rates I have ever seen in a city tree via the incredible engineering that had gone into the project; 4 to 6 feet in a season on hybrid red maples is high even for this species – but I can’t help feeling that it was just too high and inevitable future failures were discussed, albeit briefly, and from an Arborist’s perspective, just because you can do something doesn’t mean you necessarily should! However, establishing an avenue along the exposed lakeside to such a degree in three years is a remarkable achievement.

The tour finished with a trip to the city nursery

(pictured). There the Toronto Urban Forestry di-vision talked to us about the production meth-ods and selection of trees and we looked some of the trees left over from the previous planting season that were being kept over in the hold-ing areas pictured. This too was the subject of some discussion.

So, let’s see what the Milwaukee municipals can do to top this next year!

Ian McDermottExecutive DirectorISA UK&I Chapter

LONDON RIDE FOR RESEARCHTO INFINITY AND BEYOND!

And so it was, that, On October 23rd at 8am on a day of sunshine and showers, 21 intrepid cy-clists from across the country embarked on Fund 4 Trees’ second Ride for Research charity event of the year, heading along the Thames Path from Kew Gardens to Westminster and back, a total of 29 miles in all.

Tony Kirkham, of Kew, was enlisted to fire the starter’s gun, and the riders made their way along the muddy scenic towpaths of Kew and Rich-mond through Hammersmith, Fulham, Lambeth and Wandsworth, to the Houses of Parliament.

Along the route two schools were to be visited and some of the pupils were in for a tree planting and arboriculture lesson. St Pauls Primary was the first. Russell Ball led the pupils out to the spot where a sweet gum tree was to be planted and gave a short lesson to the throng of fasci-nated faces, (the ‘arbs’ of the future perhaps?) Russell asked the question:

‘Children, how many trees do you think there are in London?’

To which the reply came,

‘100? No, ten hundred. No, 500?’ Until one voice ventured the best answer to be heard all day,

‘INFINITY!’

Well, the arbs’ of the present were in no mood to let the pace drop and hurtled away from the first school en route to an important and time sensitive appointment looming on the horizon. Completely out of char-acter with some of the group, the riders stopped

commenting on the state of the street trees (and the fact that one of their group may have failed a ‘caffeine test’ due to the rumoured wearing of a cycling accessory, which put the wind up more than one of our hardy bunch) and concentrat-ed their thoughts instead on arriving at the sec-ond school St Faiths Primary on time where the Deputy Mayoress of Wandsworth would plant a cherry tree with the children. It was time for the second crocodile of the day to venture forward, as the older children led the young ones out into the playground.

Russell, sticking with his well prepared script, asked the children again how many trees they thought there were in London, and, to his mild astonishment, found that the answer, to the ‘word’, was the same:

‘INFINITY!’ came the reply!

The be-chained Deputy Mayoress then broke the ground with her official spade, and everybody

cheered. The tree officers Gavin Simmons (Hammersmith & Fulham), and Patrick Lang-ley (Wandsworth) made sure all procedures went well and the cycling convoy wound its way to lunch at Battersea Park, and then off to the Houses of Parliament for a talk on t as-sessment for heritage) trees by Mark Wadey.

Negotiating the precarious roads around Par-liament Square, and with the necessary pho-tos taken for perpetuity, our intrepid group finished the course and went straight to the pub; a pint on a sunny Kew Green.Which surprised nobody.

By the way there are approximately 6.5 mil-lion trees in London, some say 8 million whilst others just say infinity!

The next Ride will coincide with the ICF Trees, People & the Built Environ-ment II conference on 1st April 2014. Thanks to Gavin Simmons (Tree Officer: Hammersmith & Fulham) and Patrick Lang-ley (Tree Officer: Wandsworth) for organising tree planting with their contractors Advanced Tree Services and Ginkgo Landscapes. Also thanks to Karen Nolan for preparing the deli-cious packed-lunches.

Last but not least, many thanks to the event sponsors; Capita Symonds, City Suburban Tree Surgeons (T-shirts and lunches) and es-pecially to Barcham Trees for the supply of the trees.

— Russell Ball

Riders: Russell Ball; Richard Barnes; Mick Boddy; David Challice; Tracy

Clarke; Mike Cooper, Dermot Cox; Ollie Coyne; Rebecca Farrar; Martin Gammie;

Sharon Hosegood; Alvan Kingston;Karen Martin; Jonathan Mills; Tim Moya; Chris Rea; Jon Ryan; OliverStutter; Tom Thompson; GrahamUnderhill; Mark Wadey & Peter

Wharton.

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Latest R2 DevelopmentsAs new Register of Tree Work Operatives (R2) website is unveiled the team behind

R2 discuss the latest progress.

As the R2 project marks its first anniversa-ry significant milestones have been reached thanks to the time invested by key volunteers in the arboriculture industry. This progress has also been made possible thanks to the growing number of businesses lending their support to the scheme.

One of the key beneficiaries of R2 will be individual arboriculture workers who can capture their skills, experience and training and identify their current job grade, as well as planning their future career path. “In or-der to make this possible it has been critical to get feedback from practising arboricul-tural operatives about the typical roles with

The result of these discussions has been used to map key arboriculture roles into a progression structure. This will form the foundation of R2.

the sector and the job titles, qualifications and training required to achieve that grade, along with relevant task-specific experience and the typical time served”, explains Tony Lane, arboriculture consultant and R2 man-agement committee member.

For each job grade there will be a pre-de-fined set of qualifications, training and experience that an individual must have achieved over a minimum set time period to attain that title.

“Much consideration has been given to quality assurance in order to ensure that when an employee claims that they have

achieved a particular grade, the employer can be confident that the worker has met the standard,” explains Ros Burn-ley, Lantra’s Industry Partner-ship Manager.

R2 will have an annual regis-tration fee of £30 (including VAT) for an individual tree worker, reduced rates will be available for businesses pur-chasing multiple registrations. Discussions have been held with key employers in the sec-tor with the aim of gaining feedback and winning sup-port.

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New R2 sponsors include Lantra Awards and Oakwood Tree Consultants, who join Makita, Bartlett Tree Experts, CTC Recruit-ment, Beechwood Trees and Landscapes Ltd, Dartmoor Tree Surgeons and Land Based Training. “We are extremely encour-aged that these respected names within the UK arboricultural industry can see the ben-efit of R2 and share our vision of helping to create and retain highly trained individuals and flexible, skilled workforces”, explains Jaime Bray steering group chair.

The development of R2 has been led by a Steering Group which is celebrating its first birthday by becoming a Management Com-mittee and agreeing the governance for R2. Lantra has been selected as the host for R2, however the long term aim is for R2 to be-come self sufficient.

“In order to refine R2 employers are being invited to trial the system and provide feed-back” explains Ros Burnley, Lantra’s Indus-try Partnership Manager. To register your interest for the R2 pilot email info@R2regis-ter or call 02476 69 69 96.

To find out more about the project visit the new R2 website www.R2register.co.uk.

About Lantra

Lantra is the Sector Skills Council for land-based and environmental industries, work-ing to ensure these businesses access the training, qualifications, skills and knowl-edge they need.

Lantra represents 16 industries: agricultur-al livestock and crops; animal care; animal technology; aquaculture; environmental conservation; equine; farriery; fencing; fish-eries management; floristry; game and wild-life management; land-based engineering;

horticulture, landscaping and sports turf; production horticulture; trees and timber and veterinary activities.

By working together with the sector, Lantra leads research on skills issues and business needs, sets national standards and devel-ops qualifications to meet modern business needs and help businesses grow through skills.

For more information see www.lantra.co.uk.

About R2

The steering group involves trade associa-tions and arboricultural businesses includ-ing the Arboricultural Association; Inter-national Society of Arboriculture UK and Ireland Chapter; Glendale Countryside; Bartlett Tree Experts; Tony Lane of A. M. Lane Ltd; Landex Colleges; and Lantra. The group is chaired by Jaime Bray of Treetop Arboriculture.

Sponsorship packages are available for busi-nesses wishing to show their support for this ambitious project, contact info@r2reg-ister.co.uk.

Lantra Press Office

Kerry Todkill, Assistant Communications Manager

Tel: 02476 858 418

Email media@lantra.co.uk

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Bitter cold weather may be sweeping through many parts of the country, but some tree enthu-siasts and dedicated bicyclists are beginning to think about warmer climates; they are planning to ride in the 2014 STIHL Tour des Trees, a week-long cycling ride that typically travels through dif-ferent regions of North America for hundreds of miles.

This year riders will cycle 585 miles through Wis-consin from July 27-August 2, stopping in Madi-son, Door County, Green Bay and the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, noted for its arbori-culture and urban forestry curriculum.

The purpose of this annual event is for cyclists to raise funds for tree research and education while enjoying urban and rural riding, local scenery, and camaraderie.

The Badger State, the organizers note, is known for its “rolling country roads, pristine forests, acres of orchards and sparkling lakefront views (plus world-famous beer, brats and cheese).”

The ride is a fundraiser for the Tree Research and Education Endowment Fund (TREE Fund) to promote public awareness in the communities visited of the importance of trees to the quality of urban life. The money raised by cyclists is used to support research dedicated to keeping trees and forests healthy, with a focus on urban trees, the organizers said.

Every Tour includes tree plantings, educational programs and community outreach. (All activities along the route are open to the public.)

Professor Elwood Pricklethorn, (Toronto arborist and veteran Tour cyclist Warren Hoselton) will

provide children’s programs along the way about how trees grow, why they are important, and how to take an active role in their care.

The International Tree Climbing Championship and Arbor Fair, hosted by the International Socie-ty of Arboriculture, will take place on August 2, the last day of the event.

Last year cyclists rode around Lake Ontario in up-state New York and Ontario. In 2012, Tour partici-pants traveled a loop through Oregon that took in Pacific coastal areas, the Columbia River Gorge, vineyards, and Mt. Hood. In 2011, participants traveled through the Blue Ridge Mountains and visited historical trees and planted new ones at Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello, Colonial Williams-burg, and at the National Arboretum in Washing-ton. (A tree using an acorn from the tree where Robert E. Lee met with his generals during the Civil War was planted in Richmond.)

The idea for the event began during the Interna-tional Society of Arboriculture conference in Phil-adelphia in 1991 when several arborists attend-ing the conference brain-stormed about creating a fundraising event that combined their passions for cycling and the environment. The first Tour des Trees took place in 1992. Since then, more than $6.6 million dollars have been raised to fund tree research and educational programs, including more than 400 research grants focused on arbo-riculture, urban forestry and the safety of the tree care workforce.

Sponsors of the 2014 STIHL Tour des Trees, in-cluding STIHL Inc., a manufacturer of handheld, outdoor power equipment, and other companies and organizations, plan to cover food and hotel costs for riders, full mechanical support, and other event costs.

Registration opens Wednesday, January 7, 2014, and is limited to 100 full-tour riders. Participants are asked to commit to raising a minimum of $3,500. Partial registration, with a prorated fund-raising requirement, is also available.

(photos of the 2013 Tour des Trees are courtesy of Jeanette Martin)

The 2014 Tour Des TreesBy Tanya Mohn

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events Calendar Upcoming Events for the Busy Arborist

2014February

26th Arb. Job Fair Shuttleworth College, Beds. www.shuttleworth.ac.uk

March

6th BS 8545 Road Show, Leicestershire http://www.trees.org.uk/training-events/

12th MTOA quarterly meeting, Sheffield www.mtoa.co.uk

April

2nd – 3rd Trees, People and the Built Environment II, Birmingham http://www.charteredforesters.org

May

2nd – 3rd Chapter annual ArborCamp, Enfield www.isa-arboriculture.org

26th – 28th ISA European congress, Turin. www.isa-arbor.com

June

23rd – 25th TRAQ Course, Moulton College, Northants www.isa-arboriculture.org

The recent TRAQ course in North London.

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Contacts Who’s Who?

Contact list for the chapter volunteersPresident Alex Laver

President-Elect Jess Herbert

Vice-Presidents Bob Widd Vacant

Past President Russell Ball

Editor Charlotte McDermott

Exec. Director Ian McDermott

Office Manager Jean McDermott

PA Reps CAS Bob WiddMTOA Tim Wetherhill

Standing Committee’sTCC Ian MorganSSA Stuart Phillips

OfficersRise for Research Russell BallTree Fund Glynn Percival Certification Dan YeomansAFAG Alex LaverCommercial Jon TonksEAC Craig Johnson

Website: www.isa-arboriculture.orgEmail: Enquiries@isa-arboriculture.orgTel: +44 (0)121 556 8302

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