1. Aerial Assessment:  Applying the ANSI A300 Inspection Standard Ohio Chapter ISA Conference       
Historic Tree Care, 2016

2. Aerial Inspection: A Billable Service
When the climber is trained and confident   
 Follow the steps set in ANSI A300 Part 8 for a systematic and comprehensive inspection.
Discover and describe growth patterns, health, structure, and  locations for habitat and support and lightning systems.  
Deliver the data in an easily analyzed package. Get the check!  
Historic Tree Care, 2016

3. Tree Inspection: ANSI A300 Tree Care Standard Part 8
1. Consider potential tree benefits, applicable tree care techniques, and the owner’s intended use of the site. Help the owner clarify their landscape goals. (Do NOT assume they know exactly what they want!)
2. Study aerial maps, the ecosystem, the microclimates, the past, current and potential management of the site, soil volume, fill, air and water movement, and the plants. Agree with the owner on the objective aka your assignment aka the expected outcome.
3. Communicate specifications (a detailed, measurable plan or proposal for meeting the objective). Specify the method, area, and depth of inspection. Specify tools and practices that avoid damage to living tissue, bark or soil. Keep tools sharp and clean.
“ Inspection should include…:
Conditions in the crown that may reflect root conditions;
Stem tissue connecting the crown and the roots;
Girdling…, and the tree’s response;
Tree association with beneficial and harmful insects;
Tree association with pathogenic and beneficial microorganisms (e.g. mycorrhizae);
Wounds, and the tree’s response to wounds;
Mechanical damage…, and response;
Indications of…disease and response, ”
 Removing foreign material to allow inspection.
Bark tracing of wounds to remove only dead, loose, foreign and damaged tissue.
Evaluate decay, callus and woundwood growth, and response growth in trunk and crown.”
Historic Tree Care, 2016

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7. Managing Change in the Basking Ridge Oak: Inspection, Diagnosis, Prognosis
A report on managing structural and biological changes in a white oak, Quercus alba.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

8. The tree has historically been managed with care
The tree has historically been managed with care. Church members and the many visitors to the tree are informed of its heritage and its needs.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

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11. Taken half a century ago, this picture seems to show the tree was declining on the north side. The lightning strike could be old enough to be the cause.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

12. As viewed from the east, the dead leaves and buds indicate that the tree has lost half of its living crown in the last year.
The right (north) half was hit by lightning long ago, and lost roots to construction 10 years ago. It has no living branches.
The roof of the sanctuary is slate, with copper downspouts. Three drains empty the runoff into the soil around the tree. Erosion patterns indicate that the middle drain, directly uphill from the trunk, carries the greatest flow.
White oak roots are notoriously sensitive to flooding in midsummer. Excessive heat makes photosynthesis shut down, and the leaf pores (stomata) close, so the water cannot go up.
If drainage is slowed by a slate hardpan, water can’t go down. The soil may be flooded long enough to kill tree roots.
As viewed from the east, the dead leaves and buds indicate that the tree has lost half of its living crown in the last year.
The right (north) half was hit by lightning long ago, and lost roots to construction 10 years ago. It has no living branches.
The roof of the sanctuary is slate, with copper downspouts. Three drains empty the runoff into the soil around the tree. Erosion patterns indicate that the middle drain, directly uphill from the trunk, carries the greatest flow.
The lawn is irrigated regularly via two portable sprinklers at grade. The head on the west side is aimed away from the trunk. The head on the east side rotates all the way around, so water strikes the trunk.
Chunks of slate were found near the surface of the soil. The effects of the shallow slate hardpan on drainage and root volume, and the effects of the increasingly erratic patterns of rainfall in the last few years, are unknown.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

13. This sinus (a sunken area between buttresses) sounds hollow, and is connected to the dead central leader, so it is likely to have been damaged by the same lightning strike. If there was once an open cavity in this tree, it may have been here. The column of tissue to the left was growing rapidly, but stopped.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

14. East side of the flare looks fairly normal
East side of the flare looks fairly normal. The amount of moss may be related to the direct irrigation. The abrupt change in diameter at about a foot above grade, is slight, but maybe significant. A similar indentation extends around the base of each of the 3 limbs that still have living foliage.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

15. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This tree has declined to the point where the best hope is for the lower trunk to make sprouts next year. Two fungi, Armillaria and Hypoxylon, are scavenging what remains of its living tissue ,and its outer wood. It should be cut back to remove hazardous end portions, and reinspected annually to determine the extent of pruning needed.
The trunk can stand indefinitely, especially if testing determines that it was filled with concrete. One option is to plant a diverse assortment of vines up the trunk, above the root zone. Vines would tend to stabilize it, provide aesthetic and wildlife values—a vertical pollinator habitat!—and retain a memorial, as the trunk changes from supporting a living tree crown to supporting other life.
Practices to slow deterioration and encourage sprouting include soil replacement at the base of the trunk. This could be timed along with installing vines or other chosen plants. Other practices include drenching the bark with minerals , aerating and inoculating the soil, and scoring the bark above buds. Any growth that is stimulated would slow decay, preserve some of the memory, and add to the habitat.
This rapid decline is a challenge to manage, so I hope this report is useful. We remain available if we can help to navigate moving forward.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

16. The south side of the flare appears to be the healthiest, with characteristic bulging. The south side of the rootzone has sustained the least amount of disturbance over the years.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

17. Southwest side of the flare
Southwest side of the flare. The blackish streak on the left is dead, and the probable path of lightning damage.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

18. The bark on the central leader has been dead for a long time
The bark on the central leader has been dead for a long time. The pattern of damage running in a line to the ground strongly indicates a lightning strike decades ago. The portion of the tree above this brace rod appears to be in steep decline, with no chance of recovery.
The brace rod in the middle of the image stimulated response growth by the tree. This tissue is now dry and cracking.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

19. Aging white oaks naturally die back, retrenching back to growth points with adequate resources. The upright laterals, reiterations, form a new inner canopy as the tree sheds the outer canopy. This tree is not dying back from the outside in, more like it’s dying from the inside out. So it does not appear that the decline is largely due to old age.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

20. The fruiting body of a wood decay fungus came out of this knothole, and decayed. The scar tissue, aka ‘woundwood’, around this hole is a positive growth response by the tree. As long as this tissue is alive, it could give rise to sprouts next year.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

21. The lawn is irrigated regularly via two
portable sprinklers at grade. The head
on the west side is aimed away from the trunk. The head on the east side rotates all the way around, so water strikes the trunk at an upward angle.
Bark plates are designed to shed water traveling downward, but not upward.
Chunks of slate were found near the
surface of the soil. The effects of the
shallow slate hardpan on drainage and
root volume, and the effects of the
increasingly erratic patterns of rainfall
in the last few years, are unknown.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

22. Aerial inspection for structural strength includes the location of hypoxylon fungus, Kretzschmeria deusta. This organism only grows on dead wood. It can cause substantial strength loss in a short time. The branches with advanced hypoxylon beyond the cable attachment points should be reduced. Signs presently indicate that no cuts need to be made inside the cables, so all of the functional hardware can stay until the next reduction, after 2017.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

23. Inside the snap is an adventitious root that was growing upward into soil that was added at the base of the tree, at some point in time. This soil placement is not uncommon, but forcing root growth upwards in search of oxygen is not good for the tree. Soil should be dug away and rinsed off of the stem tissue in the flare. This stem drying treatment is done to arrest sapwood disease like Armillaria and Phytophthora.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

24. Smooth silver patches on the western stem are the beginning of hypoxylon infection. This fungus is believed to be endophytic, pre-existing inside the tree. When the tree system’s defenses are down, hypoxylon spreads. Trees generally can respond to and wall off or compartmentalize most types of colonization by most species of fungi, but hypoxylon is difficult to contain.
On the lower right, the first lateral branch of the limb to the southeast has brown leaves, signaling a poor prognosis for the entire limb. When trees die back and retrench to a more compact shape, the first lateral is often the one to most reliably regenerate a new crown. To have a limb dying from the inside out is a bad sign.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

25. The climber is assessing the strength of the limb over the walkway.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

26. Yellowing foliage on the southwest limb
Yellowing foliage on the southwest limb. The tan patch on the limb in the upper right is the sporulating stage of hypoxylon. Spores are released as dust.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

27. Yellowing foliage of the southwest limb.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

28. Woundwood on the northern stem is colonized by hypoxylon, a sign of advanced decay.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

29. Yellowing foliage of the northwest limb
Yellowing foliage of the northwest limb. The foliage close to us looks the worst, so the tree seems to be dying from the inside out.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

30. Adjacent to a silver patch of hypoxylon, a white fan-shaped mycelium spreads in the inner bark and cambium. It smelled like fresh mushrooms, characteristic of Armillaria fungus.  
US Forest Service pathologist: “…those do look like Armillaria mycelial fans with some prominent aggregated hyphae and some thinner strands. …I think that to presume it to be Armillaria is defensible. ..I think that going on these macro characters is OK in this case.
“Presence of robust fans indicates current or recent pathogenic activity. ..diseased trees have sometimes been saved by removing soil from around the root buttresses and root collar.“ (Sinclair)
It is unusual to find these signs 15’ above the ground, in a living tree. Removing the soil would be a reasonable treatment to try if extending the vitality of trunk tissue is an objective.
Two scavenging fungi are digesting the dying tissue.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

31. Orange decay fungus spreading through central stem may be restricted to the bark. White oak wood is typically slow to decay.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

32. The vertical line of holes is just outside the bark detached by lightning. The tree was growing response tissue at the edge of the lightning wound, but now that tissue is defenseless against predation.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

33. Base of branch that was broke last winter. The wood is cracking quickly. Cuts this large and this close to the heart of the tree should be avoided. Broken branches can be cut back to the first growth point (’node’) behind the break. Resources can translocate to the base of the branch, to defend the trunk.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

34. To the right of the climbers foot, a torsion crack begins
To the right of the climbers foot, a torsion crack begins. This limb is propped on the east side, so it tends to twist to the west when loaded by wind and storms. This twisting, ‘torsion’, caused a 10’ long crack at the base of the branch. Twisting also puts a strain on the circulatory system of the tree.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

35. The prop pushes the limb laterally, causing it to twist when it moves
The prop pushes the limb laterally, causing it to twist when it moves. The rock wall to the east is 4’ tall at the western end, and 8’ at the eastern end. It has not been disturbed except for regrouting with cement, above the surface.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

36. This streak of dead grass starts at the middle downspout from the church roof. It was reported green at the July visit. Sampling the water when it rains and the soil and analyzing for toxins could show why the grass died. The downspouts are copper.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

37. Another runoff point from the roof killed the grass
Another runoff point from the roof killed the grass. After no rain July 15-25, there were two brief downpours and one soaking rain in the next week.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

38. This dead tree root was in the area with dead grass
This dead tree root was in the area with dead grass. Its integrity indicates that it has not been dead for long.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

39. Another source of runoff aimed at the trunk.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

40. “Adam shudders at his destiny as determined by the actions of the serpent and Eve and eating the fruit of the tree of knowledge.” Big changes are ahead for the BRPC community as the tree changes, but nothing like what was in store for Adam!
Historic Tree Care, 2016

41. Many changes have taken place since this meeting under the canopy.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

42. After shading these windows for 300 years, the old tree is gradually letting more sunlight into the sanctuary. How can this change in illumination be optimized?
Historic Tree Care, 2016

43. Divert and filter runoff from roof. Sample runoff during a rain event.
MANAGEMENT OPTIONS
Immediately:
Divert and filter runoff from roof. Sample runoff during a rain event.
Adjust sprinkler heads so water does not strike trunk.
Test soil and dead tree roots where grass is dead, checking for copper and other toxins.
Schedule when timing allows
Reduce dead ends of limbs as specified according to the degree of strength loss as
determined by the extent of hypoxylon structures on the surface. Avoid cuts that would
remove supporting cables. Cut away hardware that does not provide support.
Install lightning systems in other susceptible trees of value.
Plant selected vines up the trunk, to improve appearance, wildlife value, and stability.
To delay deterioration of the trunk, and encourage sprouting
Carefully dig, scrub, and rinse off loose moss, dirt and other debris from the trunk and flare
(a Root Collar Excavation).
Apply phosphorous acid (phosphite) to the trunk per manufacturer’s recommendations.
Use iron bar to probe deep soil conditions, and fracture layers of slate.
Fill holes with a specified blend of permeable aggregate and compost.
After 2017, as indicated by monitored conditions:
Remove more of the crown, and cables as needed. Remove the lightning system and sell
the copper.
Retain the trunk indefinitely, up to the existing brace rod or higher.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

44. The neighboring red oak is resisting deathly change, for now.
Historic Tree Care, 2016

45. A victim of climate change, in the end.
But I am sorry too--I sent in pictures and descriptions of vines that could have looked quite formal enough for the site imo as a pollinator's monolith, but failed to sell the plan--despite the extra $$$$ to remove the trunk (with its concrete). It would be great for some letters to get to the local paper orr...WildMetro could start a petition!
Historic Tree Care, 2016