Specialist tree surgery at a school, including large willow tree pollarding using excavators, hook-loader chippers and grab lorries. Discover how Rose Tree Care manages large trees safely and efficiently
Earlier this summer, we were called to a school following the failure of a substantial section of the canopy from an extremely large willow tree. Fortunately, the falling limb narrowly missed the seating area below, but the incident raised concerns about the safety of the tree and the surrounding outdoor space.
The school was keen to retain the tree wherever possible, recognising its value to the grounds, but understandably wanted reassurance that it could be managed safely for pupils, staff and visitors.
Following an inspection and assessment of the tree, we recommended a programme of pollarding. This would allow us to reduce the overall size and structure of the tree while retaining it on site, with the intention of periodically managing the subsequent regrowth to keep its size under control.
Specialist equipment for large-scale tree work
Access to the tree was particularly challenging, but the scale of the work meant that bringing in our larger machinery was essential. Fortunately, Rose Tree Care has the equipment and in-house resources to undertake projects of this size efficiently.
For this project, we deployed:
- Our hook-loader chipper to process the substantial volume of timber and branches.
- A grab lorry to handle and remove the larger timber.
- A 3-tonne excavator to feed the chipper, significantly reducing manual handling and improving efficiency.
- Our specialist tree surgery team to carry out the pollarding works.
Using our own fleet of specialist machinery meant we could manage the entire operation in-house, keeping the work efficient and minimising the amount of manual handling required.
Large trees require more than just a tree surgery team.
Projects like this demonstrate the importance of having the right experience, machinery and resources available. From difficult access and large volumes of arisings to working safely within sensitive environments such as schools, Rose Tree Care has the capability to deliver complex commercial tree surgery projects from start to finish.
If you have large trees on your site that require assessment, management or specialist tree surgery, our team would be happy to help.
