(bim). Whenever trees are cut or felled along the road, citizens ask themselves whether this is necessary (to the extent). Karl Konrad, a tree specialist from Jesteburg, is one of the service providers with his company who does this work on behalf of private individuals and especially municipalities and road construction authorities. In terms of road safety, but also to protect the trees – even if some have to be felled for this.
“As long as nothing happens, everything is fine”. But if something happens, ask the insurance company in the event of property damage and, in the case of personal injury, the public prosecutor will determine whether the tree owner has taken all reasonable protective measures and regularly checked the tree. “That is why regular tree checks on streets and in built-up areas as well as professional work are so important,” explains Konrad.
Traffic safety
and tree preservation
One of the tasks of Konrad-Baumpflege is to create the prescribed clearance height of at least 4.50 m, the so-called clearance profile, and to cut out signs and traffic lights. In the course of the traffic safety obligation, dry and non-developable branches must be removed. Statically unfavorable crown parts are relieved and shortened to minimize the risk of breakage. “The earlier you correct misalignments and unfavorable developments in the tree and the smaller the cut surface, the better for the tree,” explains Konrad. With his trained eye, the specialist recognizes at an early stage where to intervene. “Even wherever people are on the move – in pedestrian zones, schools and kindergartens, in parks and cemeteries – there is an increased traffic safety requirement. “You have to work very carefully here,” says Konrad.
His company recently had to cut down a number of trees in the Buchholz municipal forest. As reported, the now three-year drought is not only causing problems for the spruces with the high bark beetle infestation, but also for the birches. “Many birch trees had to be felled, which is extremely worrying,” said Konrad.
The principles of a vital and healthy tree population also include promoting the well-developed trees and cutting down other poorly growing trees or those with deficits in growth and structure in favor of the remaining trees.
Bad planning
previous decades
Today, however, tree care also shows the bad planning of a few decades ago, for example by choosing the wrong tree, for example when flat-rooted poplars were planted on streets whose roots are now lifting the asphalt. Or too little root space in the side of the street between the street and the footpath, which complicates the construction of public pipelines due to the now large root body. Trees suffered great damage in earlier times from civil engineering, when pipes were simply laid through the root system, which led to the death of some trees or to an excessive formation of dead wood due to the loss of roots. In this regard, administrations, clients and civil engineering companies are now so sensitized that working methods such as suction trucks or manual shafts are used in these areas to remove the earth in order to keep the loss of roots as low as possible. In addition, the tree grates are often filled with a special tree substrate.
Even for the specialist
there are surprises
But there are still surprises for the specialist. Without previous illness and without warning, a mighty branch of approx. 200-year-old oak from farmer Jan Meyer vom Minkenhof in Itzenbüttel (Harburg district) hit the street, tore off other branches of a neighboring tree and knocked down a fence and fell across the street. “Fortunately, nothing more happened,” says Jan Meyer
“That was a spontaneous termination, you are not in it,” explains Karl Konrad. In the case of the oak, the heavy mass of leaves and the weight of countless acorns are probably the cause of the demolition. This summer a particularly large number of acorns and a high amount of beechnuts were observed in the beech trees. “A dense foliage paired with the acorn pole and every raindrop on the leaves gives the tree an immense weight,” says Konrad.
Jan Meyer has the magnificent trees on his property regularly checked by Karl Konrad for diseases and weak spots – at his own expense. And they can turn out to be up to 4,000 euros. “Trees that characterize the townscape are beautiful for the general public, but maintaining them is also associated with work and costs. But some people don’t understand that even a tree’s life is finite, ”says Jan Meyer, who nevertheless doesn’t want to miss any of his“ green giants ”.
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