• Trees: tree management services

Trees: tree management services

We offer a full suite of arboriculture services including managing tree stocks for large landowners, such as local authorities and housing associations, on a sub-contracted basis. From  setting up a tree management programme, to sourcing the right tree management system, undertaking inspections and issuing works, Thomson Ecology can guide you through the whole process of effective tree management.  Our arboricultureconsultants have years of experience in managing large tree populations on behalf of a variety of organisations.

Legal Obligations

Landowners have legal obligations to visitors to their land (invited or otherwise) under the Occupier’s Liability Act (1957 and 1984) and the Health and Safety at Work Act (1974) .  A Common Law duty of care is also owed to persons and structures on adjacent land.  It must be shown that reasonable measures have been taken to ensure that persons and structures are reasonably safe.  The only legally acceptable way to achieve this with regard to trees is by regularly scheduled inspections.

Tree Surveys

Most responsible large landowners have an ongoing programme of tree surveys, with trees on inspection cycles of  between six months to five years, depending on their condition and their position (more frequent if they could cause harm if they or their branches fell down).  This enables problems to be picked up before they become serious and encourages proactive management in line with current best practice.

Tree Management Software Systems

We use a variety of tree management software systems and will generally try to fit in with your existing systems, or, if you have none, choose the best available option for your sites. The software systems allow us to combine a database of tree details, inspections and works with a mapping facility.  Large amounts of tree data are then available in an easily accessible database.  Some systems also have an incident management function allowing enquiry details to be recorded and linked to inspections, A full history of enquiries and subsequent actions can then be maintained.

Budget Management

Tree management systems are also a useful tool to help us ensure that your  budgets are tightly monitored and controlled.  We enter  agreed budgets and rates or quotations for works on to the system,  highlighting the priority tree works. This ensures that throughout the years  we know the exact expenditure against budget and highlight any variances early enough to review and, if necessary, take corrective action.

Work Programming

Where  our surveys reveal that significant tree works are required, we compile the work into manageable work orders and issue it to sub-contractors with maps and other useful information.  This may be organised by location or by specific types of  work, such as rounds of pollarding or epicormic growth removal.