Posted By Nick Higginson A new meaning to maintaing safe "plant(s)". Sorry, Nick

Posted By David Scott Tom, apart from the unhelpful if not 'funny' response about safe plant(s), I have had a similar experience some years ago. I seem to recall that when we called the tree surgeon in to deal with the remains, he stated that a good arboriculturist should be able to determine the condition of trees at reasonably early stages of 'ill-health'. I gather that you have responsibility for parks etc, so I would suggest that you seek to find one of those arbori.........(tree surgeon), and plan a routine survey, maybe annually or every other year, using maps to identify your trees of concern. Hope this is of some help for you.

Posted By Tom Maycock David,John and yes Nick thank you for your advice on the above subject. Tom

Posted By Caroline Benzies As a tree owner or a person responsible for grounds upkeep which includes trees within it, it is deemed in law that you should take steps to adequately maintain trees so that they are not a danger to the public. This means that you should be aware of the general health of the trees and take steps to remove or monitor any sign of tree related problems. If in doubt a tree specialist should be employed to survey the trees ideally every year. This is to observe early on any problems that exist so that appropriate measures can then be taken. It is also important in these cases to differentiate between a 'tree surgeon' who has a vested interest in obtaining tree work which may be costly and unnecessary and a tree consultant or arboricultural consultant who gives impartial advice and does not carry out tree work as well. Information obtained from R Benzies at Andrew Harker Associates - professional Arboricultural Consultants 01925 499085