The moving of mature trees without damaging roots can be a difficult task.  Before going ahead with it, determine the specie of the tree, its age and is it worthwhile moving it.  Both Silver maple and Lombardy Poplars are difficult species to move.: Silver Maple grows very fast and susceptible to storms damage, poplars are very short-lived trees and with shallow roots.  Here is a step-to-step guide on moving trees:

Step I

1. Stab tree roots
In autumn cut a wide circle with a spate around the tree. Cut through any roots  and with deep-rooted trees, cut the roots on the bottom of the root ball with a shovel. Mix the excavated soil with 50 percent of mature compost, fill the trench and soak extensively.

Step II

2. Tree forms new fine roots

Wait for a year , so that the tree can develop fine roots again to absorb water. The loose, humus-rich compost provided, promotes further root development and strengthened the weakened plants with nutrients. Water frequently to ensure that the root system regenerates quickly as possible. In addition, you can cover in the summer the roots with bark mulch to avoid evaporation of too much water.

In the next autumn it is time to move the tree. Dig around the roots and fill the hole with compost to improvethe excavation. Tie the knots of the plant together with a rope to protect them from damage during transport, gently reduce the root ball with a fork. Place the tree at the new site no deeper than he had previously stood. Place a tree stake to stabilize on the eastern side at an angle. Finally, fill the hole with more compost and water well.

We were recently involved in moving four mature trees on an industrial site in South Dublin. The trees were … and had to make space to the construction of a new building. Rather than felling them, it was decided to protect the trees and to move them to an alternative location. Trees are not happy travellers and require a lot of care before transplanting them. Using a spate, a trench was dug around the roots of the trees. With the help of a 40 foot crane, the trees were slowly lifted and moved to their new location. If you need advise on moving mature trees, contact  us on 01-8673023.

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Autumn is a great time for pruning trees and performing tree surgery jobs.  The tree surgeons at Grasshopper Landscape Maintenance have certainly been run off their feet in the past few weeks…not that they’re complaining!  It was on one of the bigger tree surgery jobs in a school property that the tree surgeon made a shocking and potentially dangerous discovery. 

Hollow Tree Trunk

This particular job entailed pruning some lateral branches of several mature trees on the school grounds.   However while pruning back some of the branches the tree surgeon noticed that the branches were hollow on the inside.  Where there should have been solid heartwood, there was only empty space.  Because there was a number of branches on the one tree affected in this way, the tree surgeon decided to make a closer inspection at the main trunk of the tree.  He discovered that the whole inside of the trunk was completely hollow! 

This hollowing out of the centre of a tree can happen for a number of reasons.  It may occur from external stress when there is an injury to the tree such as the breakage of the branch.  This creates an opening through the bark and exposes the heartwood.   On exposure, the heartwood can be attacked by fungi and bacteria which go on to form cavities in the tree.  The decay can spread through the inside of the trunk softening the heartwood as it spreads.  However, even as the rot spreads, it does not effect the outer trunk of the tree so it looks perfectly healthy on the outside.  Trees with rotten and weakened heartwood often suffer and cause great damage during storms and strong winds as the effected areas are not as strong as healthy wood. 

The main danger of this type of tree attack is that the tree can look perfectly healthy…until it falls down.  To avoid this happening it it wise to commission a tree audit of your grounds.  This involves getting a qualified tree surgeon to examine the trees on the property and produce a tree report.  This can then be added to the property insurance documents.  Now is the time to have checks made on mature trees in grounds and properties before any extreme weather conditons in the winter.  If you need any further information on our tree services and tree care please get in touch with us

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Recently Grasshopper Landscape Maintenance were commissioned to complete a particularly delicate tree surgery job in Dublin city centre.  It required very careful maneuvering as the trees happened to be located only a few feet from the glass facade of a modern office building.  The issue with the trees was that the lateral branches were growing closer and closer to the glass windows.  Some judicious pruning had to be completed but due to the lack of space, this pruning needed to be done by a professional tree surgeon.  Luckily these are just the type we have working on the Grasshopper Landscape Maintenance team.  

Tree surgery commences

Before the tree surgery even started, a site visit needed to be scheduled in order to audit the trees and decide which branches needed to be removed.  Once this was assessed, a date for the pruning was agreed.  Of course, with jobs such as this, there is some weather dependancy, branches could not be removed on a day with very high winds.  

Luckily enough the weather stayed calm and the pruning could go ahead.  Each branch to be removed must be secured well before cutting starts.  Lower branches are cut first and then the tree surgeon moves methodically up the tree.  As can be seen in the photos, the branches are so close to the building that one false move could result in a breakage.  

Pruned trees

However, with our experience in tree surgery, of course the job was completed successfully.  The picture below shows the pruned trees.

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