LITTLE OAK

Okay I don't actually bird non-stop and do have to work. All of my work is in the environmental sector under the company name Little Oak in which I am a partner. We mainly do tree work, grounds maintenance and also landscaping. We also sponsor and get involved in various pro-environmental projects.

Most days with tree work are pretty routine but we had a particularly challenging job recently removing a giant of a Beech tree which had unfortunately succumb to the fatal and dangerous pathogen Meripilus giganteus. The infected tree can look reasonably healthy but below the surface the roots are being eaten away and eventually the tree falls over. It is important to look out for this disease on Beech trees, particularly near houses and its presence is betrayed by the growth of huge fungus brackets at the base of the tree during the autumn.

This particularly challenging tree was leaning over two very nice houses, a shed and a fence. We couldn't use a crane as the tarmac area would not withstand the weight so we (Hysni- the lead climber on this job) had to dismantle the giant manually, branch by branch and slice by slice- four days in so far!