Palm & Tree Services

You may have noticed large mud nests in trees as shown adjacent.

Sometimes when the termites have moved on birds peck out the interior and a small entrance hole for a nesting box.

The termites are called Nasutitermes walkeri (common name is niggerhead termite).

These termites have mud tunnels to connect to the ground near the base of the tree. They also have a labyrinth of tunnels underground.

Here’s a link to a pest controls site about these termites. What’s interesting to note is that these termites seldom do any damage to either the tree or houses.

I have, under instruction of customers who were told to remove trees because of this, dissected many nests and never found the tree eaten away. The termites seem to do a little chewing around the bark but for the most part the trees are fine other than a few mud tunnels.

Now it’s wise to ID these termites to make sure. Look for the mud tunnel, it will be there, and what I do is scrape it open to find the termites. I’ve attached a picture so you can see two termites and the exposed tunnel.The termites are quite large, maybe 7mm long, and have a distinct dark head in most cases … I do find the odd one that’s a bit different but there’s males, workers etc.

Their head is slightly pointed, like they have a beak or something.

Now if you are concerned the tree may have been eaten or the strength of the tree above the nest weakened then you can tap the trunk near the nest to see if it sounds hollow. There are other ways to and one is drilling with a small drill. If you are concerned about getting rid of them then I’d suggest getting a pest controller in and having them treated so the whole colony dies. But do not destroy the nest till that’s done, you need the colony functional for poisons and baits to work correctly.

Comments and discussion can be made at Tree World| Tree Forums

Regards
Eric Frei
L5(Dip)Hort Cert III Arb + extras

I am continually asked this by potential clients when they call…. goes something like this.“Oh hi, I was just after a rough idea on how much it would cost to cut down a gum tree?” ……. “Yes hello, what’s the average price to cut down a palm?”

I think you get the idea, may have even done it yourself or had this happen to you. I can tell you now that as the guy who answers these calls I find it rather comical and if you dare give out a price or start to question the size/location/difficulty of the job at hand you’ll soon get into a real mess.

Many times the situation or tree is played down, this is called minimizing, “oh, it’s just ya average tree, I’d do it myself if I had a saw.“. Occasionally it’s the opposite and what sounds like a monster is a straight forward fell and clean up.After chatting about this scene with many others I can say some tree people will try it on the customer. They give out a cheap price to get a foot in the door but upon arriving for the job then it becomes like raising the Titanic, “yeah look Mary, for $300 you get a tree like that one across the road done, that’s what we were thinking and is average but this thing ya got ere love is a real monster … we can do it now for $900 but if we have to come back it’s $1100!” Inside of the equation that makes up averages are also price extremities, the cheapest to the dearest.

In this video is some cocos palms being removed, at around $900 each they’re also part of the average equation. Inside of the equation that makes up averages are also price extremities, the cheapest to the dearest. In this video another palm being cut down. Is it an average one? Maybe for a cuban royal palm, and maybe not according to what the individual company has been doing in the past.

Most tree companies provide free quotes, I’d strongly suggest you use this service. We need to see the tree, the location and the access to price the job. Each company has it’s strengths and weaknesses and prices accordingly, and on that note it’’s wise to ask some questions and know what to expect, seldom does just looking at a price tell you anything … but that’s a whole new topic.

Regards
Eric Frei
L5(Dip)Hort Cert III Arb + extras

I’m often asked to prune or remove trees near the service wire drop.

However, what is the rule?

Is it Energex’s problem or yours?

Well, lets first cover what is Energex’s responsibility. They are responsible to the first point of contact in your property. On a typical house block it would be to the roof or wall etc. On larger acreage blocks it will be to the first pole.

You may have called Energex and been advised otherwise however I assure you it is their responsibility. Sometimes the crews who trim around the street wires are not contracted to do service drops so they fob you off.

Generally pruning should maintain a 300mm clearance to vegetation. Sometimes the service wire runs straight through a large tree and they”ll prune a “tunnel”. The service wire is not considered insulated but rather coated. The reason for this is that no-one checks or guarantees the insulation after years of being out in the weather, sat on by birds, rubbed by trees etc. We are trained to consider the wire live at all times.

I have what’’s called M31 electrical awareness training and am authorised to work near lines within certain distances. Now even with this training and certification by regulation I am not allowed to work within 1m of the wires … without the training it’s 3m.

So here’s where it gets interesting. If you want to remove a tree and it’s within 3m of the service drop you can actually argue to have Energex remove the tree. However they could simply prune away the 3m clearance unless of course the trunk is within that distance. I have had entire trees removed for clients where the trees are within 3m of the service drop, basically free. If the wire is within 1m of the tree then by regulation even I”m not supposed to cut it.

Now knowing this is important because when you ring up Energex you may be told otherwise. I have heard comments like this .. “sir, the tree is on your property so it is your problem”. But that’’s not true. Request to speak to a supervisor and mention the regulations as stated above, also mention that if it is refused you have it in writing. I would like to see them actually put it in writing to force a person to breach the regulations.

In the picture to the left you can see the Energex contractors removed the head of the palm leaving the trunk. Then after they have been I removed the rest, sometimes if you’re lucky they’ll remove the lot.

In most circumstances you will be provided a job number, ask for it and write it down plus the date, time and name of person you spoke to. Most requests are actioned within 28 days.

Remember, unauthorised person it’s 3m and authorised is 1m.

Regards
Eric Frei
L5(Dip)Hort Cert III Arb + extras

This is a hot topic, and in many instances the offending trees are able to cause damage outside of their owners property boundaries. There’s no shortage of documented cases where a tree has failed injuring neighbours and damaging their property. But the same circumstances arise for the owner’s own property.

As it currently stands the “victim” is responsible for the cost or the insurance claim. That’s right. Your neighbours 100 foot tall gum tree fails and takes out half your house it’s your insurance company that will have to foot the bill. Obviously if the tree fails in your own yard and damages your own home it’’s the same process. Some insurance companies cover removal of the fallen tree, some have limits and others exclude it … depends on your policy. Damage resulting from the fallen tree or tree parts will be covered. Some top class policy even reimbursed you a notional value of the tree or replacement.

What is appearing more frequently in this society of legal correctness and lack of accepting responsibility is whether or not that failure was predictable and the inaction (or lack of correct or appropriate action) attributed to the failure. Tree owners have a responsibility to ensure their trees are healthy and relatively “safe” especially when they have the capacity to cause damage to third parties.

Lets take a look at the legal definitions.

Act of God - An event or occurrence due to natural causes which occurs independently of human intervention and either could not be foreseen, or if foreseen, could not be reasonably guarded against. (e.g. storm, flood, earthquake, cyclone).

Negligence - Failure to take reasonable care to avoid foreseeable harm to other people or their property.

But how does this relate to trees though? How can we make a simplified more distinct line in the sand?

I think Mattheck and Breloer summarize it well in The Body Language of Trees, “Anyone who does not take heed of defect symptoms that today can be evaluated by means of VTA (Visual Tree Assessment) is behaving negligently. If on the other hand, a tree of optimal form fails as a result of a deterioration of it’’s substance without recognizable symptoms, this constitutes an Act of God.”

But to whom does this apply, the arborist or the tree owner or both? It could be debated that what a trained arborist can see as an obvious defect may appear quite OK to the tree owner. The section fails resulting in damage but the tree owner with their reasonable judgement felt it was fine. Perhaps turning a blind eye to your trees is a good defence. This is where lawyers make money, establishing the degree of negligence of any. If the neighbour had brought up their concerns and the tree owner failed to do anything about it and didn’t get a professional assessment then indeed they behaved negligently. If an assessment was ignored, especially a written one then it’’s getting very black and white on this issue. And perhaps an owner of a substantial tree that simply ignores it is also negligent for simply not getting a professional assessment. How could you turn a blind eye to a large tree that has the capacity to strike 4 neighbouring homes?

Negligence claims can be both civil and criminal depending on the circumstances.

Insurance companies, in Australia at least, have not yet grasped these issues. I have seen many predictable failures get paid out. I have had on numerous occasions had tree owners tell me that it’’s not their problem if the tree fails due to an obvious defect but rather their insurer, some even jokingly said it would be the cheapest way to get the job done by paying the excess and denying any knowledge of the tree’’s defects. However across the globe times are changing. Storm damage from trees is a high proportion of insurance payouts. In some places questions are asked about trees within striking distance of property and reports have to be filed prior to the insurance company taking on the risk.

I have seen exclusions put on trees after storm damage by insurance companies. They have the right to exclude further damage from a tree, in this particular instance the tree had a protection order on it by council. The client wanted to cut it down however the authorities said no. Once the exclusion letter was faxed to council approval for removal was granted (within 24 hours). The tree was a 130 foot grey gum, approx 3 foot DBH with no apparent defects however the species is reknown for limb failures.

I can only suggest that responsible tree ownership means caring. Your duty of care in fact. A basic (from ground) tree assessment starts from as little as $110 with us. We are well versed in species, have solid experience and education base to make the assessment and know what to look for. Responsible tree ownership is no different than driving a road worthy vehicle that’’s well maintained … you”ll enjoy it a lot more when it’s cared for.

There’s a couple of interesting threads running at tree world about ignoring trees and a fallen one we diagnose worth reading along with illustrations.

Regards
Eric Frei
L5(Dip)Hort Cert III Arb + extras

Having worked extensively with many species of palms here in Brisbane I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly.

As the plant fruits and seeds there’’s a hormonal change within the plant the directs resources from the roots and leaves to the fruiting and seeding. Consequently the plant dies. Now it can take many years for this to happen, and if it’’s a clumping variety one stem may die whilst new ones grow.

The most common ones to be seen are the Caryota and Arenga genus (fishtail and sugar palms), are either solitaire or clumping. What you will see occur is fruiting will progress down the trunk on a mature palm starting from the top. As the fruiting is near complete toward the bottom of the trunk the tree starts to die from the top down. You will see dead leaves, then the whole top will be dead and so on.

With large solitaire varieties it can pose a difficult situation to cut down in a confined area. Unlike say dead trees palms turn to unstable mush and are dangerous to climb and cut when this happens.

My advice if you choose to use these palms in your landscape is to place them where they can be felled later.

Here’s a link to a video we shot of us removing a Sugar palm from the DPI gardens in Brisbane, it was dying as had fruited all the way to the ground.

Also a word of warning in my experience is that these palms are all very itchy. They contain calcium oxalate crystals which give you an itchy rash. Also some have nasty bamboo like skewers contained in a mat of fibers … terrible to cut through and jams your chainsaw bar and sprocket.

21.7mb WMV video of a removal with a small franna crane.

Regards
Eric Frei
L5(Dip)Hort Cert III Arb + extras

As we are in the middle of our storm season many people are concerned about damage from their larger trees.

Without a comprehensive consultation and aerial inspection from a suitably qualified and experienced arborist I can give you some sound advice to look for the warning signs.

Blown over trees whilst they appear random closer inspection does reveal some common denominators. So check for them.

1. Up heaved root plate is always within 2.5m of tree trunk in radial terms. So look for soil cracks, raised soil or a leaning tree with soil up heaval on the side opposite the lean.
2. Recent trenching or excavating may have compromised structural support roots.
3. Heavy or incorrect pruning may have resulted in some roots dying or decay.
4. Excessive crown lifting may have created a wind funneling effect where the tree can be lifted.
5. Removal of structures or other trees may have resulted in your tree becoming a fringe tree and not being prepared for the new direct force of storms.
6. Poor taper ratio means the tree may be liable to trunk failure, usually happens between 2m and 5m up the main trunk.
7. Poor branch attachments have not been attended to during the formative pruning days and now have a higher probability of failure.
8. Species. This is a controversial one because many will argue that even the healthiest of trees in the best form of certain species have a higher probability of failure than others. Is it more likely that a 100 foot blue gum will fail rather than a 50 foot Leopard tree.

So as you can see there are indicators, these are the easier ones and can be observed. Of the many tree failures I have seen I would estimate 75% had clues, the failure was somewhat predictable.

Regards
Eric Frei
L5(Dip)Hort Cert III Arb + extras