Winter tree work

A little warmer weather has allowed the staff to get back outside this week and continue with our work. As our trees age, they become hollow and cracked. Sometimes, the tree has a large wound on the outside of the tree which makes it apparent that there is some type of serious injury on the inside of the tree. We had a large oak near the patio/wedding area near the club which showed a wound that was three to four feet high at the base. There were also large cracks that extended into the tree but we could not see how far into the tree that these cracks traveled. The tree was also snapping and popping during higher wind events. We removed this tree and the pictures below demonstrate that it was weak and severely compromised.

Inside third(heartwood) of the tree was decayed and you can see the large cracks radiating toward the outside of the tree.

Large crack which went from the middle to the outside of the tree.

The chipper is brought out into the field where we grind up the smaller limbs and the remaining material is hauled back to the shop area. We utilize this chipped material in some of our ornamental bed plantings that can handle this type of material.As you can see, this tree was in very close proximity to where many members and guests spend time in the patio area of the club. The logs are put in the loader and hauled back to the shop to be split for firewood.

Russ, Jason and Tom are doing the work in the picture below.

We have rented a lift for a month to assist us with removing the tops of some of the larger trees that are on our removal list. Some of the trees to be removed are too large to drop at once. It is not safe to the staff on the ground if the tree has a large amount of limbs on the top half and there are trees nearby which can prevent the tree from falling straight to the ground. We also want to protect the nearby trees, fencing and power sources from trees that need to be removed. We also plan to clean out some of our dead limbs on various trees throughout the proper. Dead limbs can create a hazard to our members and staff, create extra work for the staff when they fall during wind events and can encourage disease and or insect entry points in decaying wood.

Skip and Mike working in the large oak tree on #7 which is dying and is being removed.