The nesting bird season in Britain is nearly over. Now's the time to think about your trees.

During the nesting season, all birds living in a tree are protected. No work can be carried out that would disturb the avian population. Luckily, evidence of birds is easy to spot, so not much special training is needed to assess the risk. However, if in doubt it is always safer to ask a qualified arborist to make sure you stay on the right side of the conservation laws.

Bats are protected during roost and hibernation. Signs of bats are a bit less obvious than birds, so if there is any suspicion of a roost in your tree, please check with us before taking any action.

Brooke Sstated Management follows the best practice guidelines as adopted by many local authorities:
Timing of works

To reduce the chance of disturbing a bat roost, it is important to avoid the summer (breeding season) and winter (hibernation) months.
Works to trees with potential for bats is best done from late August to early
October when young bats are mobile and on the wing, female bats are
unlikely to be pregnant and the hibernation season has not yet begun.
March to April is also a suitable time, though consideration should also be
given for nesting birds as these are also protected by law.
Crown pruning and minor tree works can also be completed over the winter
months. The removal of potential roost sites during this time should be
avoided, as some bat species hibernate in trees.

Best practice methods:

Keep tree work to a minimum retaining all potential roosts where possible.
A precautionary inspection of the tree(s) by the tree work contractor looking for signs of bats should be carried out before starting work. This should include an inspection of all holes and niches using a torch and preferably an endoscope. If bats or signs of bats are found, no work should start and English Nature should be contacted for further advice.
Where possible, avoid cross cutting in proximity to cavities or hollows.
Limbs with internal fissures should be pruned carefully to maintain integrity of features as potential roost sites.
Any sections felled containing cavities should be lowered carefully and left on the ground (preferably for 24 hours) with the openings clear, allowing anything inside an opportunity to escape.
Split limbs that are under tension may need to be wedged open to prevent their closure when pressure is released, potentially trapping bats

If ivy covers areas of a tree's trunk or branches, there is roosting potential behind it. In addition, potential roosts in the tree may also be hidden behind the ivy. Dealing with ivy-covered trees depends on the amount of growth. If there is a thick mass of ivy growth, it may be practical to consider felling the tree on the basis that the thickness of the foliage will soften the fall and reduce the shock. This tree can then be inspected on the ground and if possible left for 24hours, before section cutting. If the tree is only partially covered, pruning or sectioning may be more appropriate. If the works are not urgent, cutting the ivy at its base and completing the work when the ivy is dead, thus reducing the bat roosting potential,l should be considered. However, where stems of ivy create a dense mass against the trunk, there will always be roosting potential.

You can rely on Brooke Estate Management for a full range of tree surgery, grounds, paddock, grasslands and estate management services in or around Allastone. As a local company, fully trained and well equipped operatives are never far away. Whether you need regular maintenance of hedges and paddocks or a one-off tree surgery visit to fell a diseased tree or carry out crown reduction, thinning or lifting, you can be assured of the same high level of service and attention.

Not only can you call upon us for tree surgery and grounds management work, but also fencing and hedging, event management and access plant hire, for which we have a range of units ready to deliver at short notice in Allastone and surrounding areas.

For a prompt, competitive quotation or details of more local projects, simply call us on 01600 717097 or click in the header of any page to email allastone@treesandgrounds.co.uk.

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July: A time for peak growth in invasive weeds

July is the peak growing season for many plants, not least of which are the various invasive weeds that thrive here. Our government takes a fairly strong stand on the matter of invasive weeds. Their website spells it out for us like this:

"Invasive non-native plants are species which have been brought into the UK that have the ability to spread causing damage to the environment, the economy, our health and the way we live. Injurious weeds are native species, which have been deemed to cause a problem to farming productivity."

The government site then goes on to say: "If you have invasive plants or injurious weeds on your premises you have a responsibility to prevent them spreading into the wild or causing a nuisance.

You must not plant or otherwise cause to grow in the wild any plant listed on schedule 9 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

You are not obliged to remove or treat invasive plants, but you must not:

allow invasive plants to spread onto adjacent land - the owner of that land could take legal action against you
plant or encourage the spread of invasive plants outside of your property - this can include moving contaminated soil from one place to another or incorrectly handling"

Information source: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

There are hundreds of species of invasive weeds present in the UK, some of the most common and problematic include:

Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica)
Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)
Himalayan Balsam (Imaptiens glandulifera)

There are very stringent guidelines governing the removal and disposal of such plants, which makes it very much a job for the professional.

At Brooke Estate Management, we use the Stem Injection Technique, which is the most efficient way of killing off these invasive weeds. Eradication can take just one growing season if they are caught at the right time, whereas other methods often need to be repeated for several years to remove the problem plants entirely. For sound advice and a fast, competitive quotation for dealing with your invasive weed problem, simply call us on the number shown (it's free), or click in the header of any page to email us.

You can rely on Brooke Estate Management for a full range of tree surgery, grounds, paddock, grasslands and estate management services in or around Avon. As a local company, fully trained and well equipped operatives are never far away. Whether you need regular maintenance of hedges and paddocks or a one-off tree surgery visit to fell a diseased tree or carry out crown reduction, thinning or lifting, you can be assured of the same high level of service and attention.

Not only can you call upon us for tree surgery and grounds management work, but also fencing and hedging, event management and access plant hire, for which we have a range of units ready to deliver at short notice in Avon and surrounding areas.

For a prompt, competitive quotation or details of more local projects, simply call us on 01600 717097 or click in the header of any page to email avon@treesandgrounds.co.uk.

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You can rely on Brooke Estate Management for a full range of tree surgery, grounds, paddock, grasslands and estate management services in or around Aylburton. As a local company, fully trained and well equipped operatives are never far away. Whether you need regular maintenance of hedges and paddocks or a one-off tree surgery visit to fell a diseased tree or carry out crown reduction, thinning or lifting, you can be assured of the same high level of service and attention.

Not only can you call upon us for tree surgery and grounds management work, but also fencing and hedging, event management and access plant hire, for which we have a range of units ready to deliver at short notice in Aylburton and surrounding areas.

For a prompt, competitive quotation or details of more local projects, simply call us on 01600 717097 or click in the header of any page to email aylburton@treesandgrounds.co.uk.

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Brooke Estate Management Ltd - Areas of Operataion

The nesting bird season in Britain is nearly over. Now's the time to think about your trees.

July: A time for peak growth in invasive weeds