UK Tree Care - http://www.oak-wood.co.uk/uktc/
You wouldn't believe the number of TPO appeal statements that include the
words "I am a keen gardener", usually in order to justify removing a tree or
turning it into a lollipop. Its probably second only to the famous [or
infamous] "I like trees but...................] I sometimes wonder how
trees managed to survive for millions of years before humans came along to
look after them.
There's a good example of this mentality near here. The owner of a bungalow
[had to be a bungalow didn't it?] backing onto the top of a main road
cutting has annexed a strip the width of the garden extending down almost to
the carriageway and planted it with exotic shrubs. This time of year its
not too obvious, but in the growing season the bright coloured foliage and
flowers look truly awful against the natural shrubby vegetation on the rest
of the bank. Fortunately there aren't any gnomes or a water feature yet but
who knows.
----- Original Message -----
From: Cox, Dermot <DCox@xxxxxxxxxxx.gov.uk>
To: 'UK Tree Care' <uktc@xxxxxxxx.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 1999 9:38 AM
Subject: RE: Armillaria
UK Tree Care - http://www.oak-wood.co.uk/uktc/
Gardeners do most harm to themslves by the simple expedient of "tidying
up"
most seam to have a manic desire to remove deadwood and rotting leaf mould
form the garden - removing the habitat for the competing fungi... and
bingo
they suffer!
-----Original Message-----
From: David Evans [SMTP:arborcentre@xxxxxx.msn.com]
Sent: Wednesday, December 15, 1999 9:35 AM
To: 'UK Tree Care'
Subject: RE: Armillaria
UK Tree Care - http://www.oak-wood.co.uk/uktc/
For arguments sake:
That a tree stump becomes a seat of infection and an inoculum source as
a
consequence of a natural act, such as windthrow, would, in my opinion,
make
little difference. The reason being that if a tree was rendered
hazardous
by partial windthrow, for example, then the owner would still be liable
for
the endangered state of the tree, despite the cause of the hazard being
a
natural event.
In the UK, a duty of care is conveyed by The Occupiers' Liability Act
(1957
& 1984), and a number of court cases. This requires the owner to take
reasonable steps to prevent, or minimise, the risk of personal injury
and
damage to property. Failure to carry out this duty of care may render
the
owner liable and consequently they could be found negligent. Proof of
negligence requires that it was reasonable for the owner to have
foreseen
the potential for damage, and that they could have taken a course of
action
to prevent or minimise it. Case law has determined that the owner may
not
necessarily have the expertise to determine whether the trees they own
pose a risk of personal injury or damage to property, but that they
would
be expected to take reasonable steps to meet their duty of care. ie
employ
someone with the necessary expertise. In the Honey Fungus scenario, I
know
of no case law that sets a precedent (hence the original posting), but
if
the stump is the source of damage to a third party's property, then
there
may be scope within this framework to pursue the matter. Which
hopefully
would be unnecessary. The crux is whether it was reasonably
foreseeable.
At present this is unlikely. However, a report from an arboriculturist
informing the occupier of the damage that their stump is inciting, would
make it reasonably foreseeable, and that a course of action could be
undertaken to minimise the damage - remove the stump.
Re: Scott Cullen's posting - Not sure what may ISP's been up to but
only
received your posting this morning. I would be very cautious about
attempting an ID from rhizomorph morphology. In the UK it is certainly
thought too uncertain a practice to identify the species of Armillaria
from
rhizomorphs or fruiting bodies, for that matter. Lab tests are
comparatively straight forward and could be used to determine whether
the
species and genotype that is responsible for the damage, is compatible
with
that colonising the stump (The Forestry Authority and Royal
Horticultural
Society at Wisley can provide this service). Roland Fox at Reading
University has been working on a testing kit that is supposed allow ID
in
the field - I shall try to find out how this has developed, and let you
know.
Your point about the origin of infection of the stump is a line of
reasoning that would be expected from the other side. It could be that
infection originated from the would be plaintiff's garden, infected the
stump, only to be returned in spades (sic). However, a stump markedly
increases the likelihood of inoculation by spores. And would it make
much
of a difference, because it is the creation of the stump that has
provided
an environment conducive to elevating the fungus' pathogenicity.
Moreover
an attempt to pursue the origin of the infection could easily degenerate
into the realms of evolution, or the Garden of Eden, for any
creationists
out there.
Also from the other side. Are the cultural activities of the would be
plaintiff good practice? It could be the case that they have
predisposed
their plants to infection by poor practices. Keen gardeners are often
very
adept at encouraging and spreading pests and diseases by moving and
transplanting infected plants; importing infected material; growing
plants
at the outer most range, or outside, of their tolerance; over zealous
applications of herbicides and insecticides; and inappropriate
applications
of fertiliser in the mistaken belief that they're feeding their plants
(It
says so on the packet). To name but a few.
Cheers
Acer ventura
-----Original Message-----
From: Dorothy Hartshorne [SMTP:arborinfo@xxxxx.com]
Sent: 14 December 1999 00:33
To: UK Tree Care
Subject: RE: Armillaria
UK Tree Care - http://www.oak-wood.co.uk/uktc/
Just for arguements sake....trees that break off in storms leave stumps
too although this is not as common an occurrance as the chainsaw created
type lets say that the infected stump in question was created by nature
not by man....What then?
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