Are you Arb enough?

Another Monday morning was upon me.  Unlike most Mondays, I was particularly excited about this one as I was spending the day with the Arboriculture team down at RHS, Wisley.

For anyone who is involved in the industry, RHS Wisley is a real gem and a place of great horticultural excellence, so for an opportunity to spend time there was a great privilege. 

I arrived to a predominantly empty car park at 07:15.  The trouble with Wisley is that it resides just off the M25, so in order to avoid the apocalyptic congestion, it is best to get there early.

I had arranged to meet at 09:30, so I had two hours to kill.  I never realised that there were so many public bridleways surrounding the area so I took it upon myself to go for a walk, which ended up turning into a bit of a hike.

It was a glorious morning.  The crisp, glistening frost gleamed from the morning sun.  The air felt fresh and pure, revitalising the body, the birds ecstatically singing their little hearts out.  It felt wonderful to be alive.

I would truly recommend to anyone visiting Wisley to go divert and go for a little adventure.

The time was rapidly approaching 09:30 so I had to hastily make my way back.  I met with Nick Bell, who is head of the Arboriculture team.  Nick came across as a very knowledgable arborist and made me feel part of the team right from the start.

Before commencing work, I had to go through the tedium of health and safety and risk assessments.  Arboriculture can be a dangerous game, so it is of the upmost importance to follow the procedures set for Arboriculture.

Once this was completed, we could then go out and do some work.  Nick and I met with the team and joined them at Battleston Hill where three Alders had been felled.  This was performed in order to create more light for the ground so that some of the plants and shrubs have an increased chance of establishing themselves.

The trees were required to be chopped up for logging, collected together and then taken to the yard to be used for firewood.

It is important to not rush arboriculture work as this is when accidents happen.  For the sake of trying to finish a job half an hour earlier, it could cost you tomorrow.  Therefore, the Alder task took up most of the day.

However, once the task was completed, it was time to get to the workshop and clean and sharpened the chainsaws ready for tomorrow’s work.  It was a day of putting my CS30 Cross-cutting and Chainsaw Maintenance certificate in to practice, and I loved it.

The day soon come to an end, but it was fantastic and Nick would like me to come back each month, an important contact made there.

Working with trees can indeed be a tough game, you need to be hard-working, highly skilled, physically fit, have a beard and about 2L of testosterone a day.  However, after all the back-breaking work, you step back and realise it is an honour to be involved with the management and maintenance of these gentle, majestic giants of the Earth.

A Tree-mendous Adventure - Day 4

Alas, my final day was upon me.  I must confess that initially, feeling tired and isolated, I could not wait to return to my comfort zone in England.  However, as the week progressed, and I began to interact with my fellow colleagues, I began to really enjoy it.

I believe one factor for this is the transition from London life to a rural existence.  Within London, it is all go, rushing around, no time for anyone. However, when you escape the hectic bubble of London, you quickly realise that life does not need to be that manic, and this just slow down a bit.

It is difficult to adjust to a normal way of life after living in London, but I soon did in rural Hamburg as the week progressed.  I took a deep inhalation followed by a relaxing exhalation and enjoyed the fresh country air, and it felt very liberating indeed. 

It really does make me wonder why so many people choose to live their lives so hectically, but for some people they may not have that choice.

On a different note, for my final day I was put on the delivery/ despatchment team.  The morning’s work consisted of placing two semi-mature Acer platinoides on the lorry for delivery.  The trees had previously been lifted, bagged, tied and ready in the yard.  Again, this required heavy machinery to lift the trees and place onto the lorry.  We used a lot of coffee bean sacks in order to wrap around the tree bark in order minimise damage.

Once placed in the lorry, the trees are then secured with a ratchet strap.  These are brilliant as they achieve a level of stability and security that no man could achieve.  Simple physics.

The trees are then secured and going nowhere.  The lorry is ready to go off to its destination and provide the client with a specimen in the exact condition that it left the nursery.

After tea break, we then had an additional lorry to load.  This was much different to the previous as there were lots of varying sizes and a much bigger order.  The lorry had trees for three clients.  There were about a hundred trees and you think to yourself ‘How on Earth is all that going to fit?’  The key is preparation and taking your time.

It took the team and I three hours to load the lorry.  Once carefully packed, ratchet straps were used to tighten the lorry load.

Then it was time for lunch.  At the beginning of the week I was sitting on my own in the canteen, the lonely Englander!  Now, I found myself sitting at the table with a group of lads, with us all trying to communicate with broken English/ German.  I felt grateful for everyone being so accommodating and including me in the conversation.

The final afternoon was upon me.  The sun was out for the first time after a cold and windy week.  A suitable way to finish the week. 

The task for the afternoon was to tie poles in the semi-mature trees in the growing fields in order to encourage straight growth.  After this it was time to set up the irrigation systems again.  We are now at the back end of winter and when spring commences, the growth will extenuate the fields, buds will break, showering the nursery in a vast array of fresh, lush green and a variety of enigmatic flowers.

 All of this is an energy-intensive process and watering will be heavily required.  The irrigation systems had been covered for the winter in order to protect the pipes from cracking in the frost.

When the sun shines, and the air is fresh, it creates a nostalgic mood, summer is peaking its head around the corner.  Longer and warmer nights will soon be upon us.

The day had finally drawn to an end and it was time to say goodbye and be on my way.  Not before I expressed my gratitude to the team for having me.

Uwe, the taxi driver who initially escorted me there was to take me back to the airport.  We stopped off at the local gas station (the first shop I had seen all week!) and picked up some German beers to take home.  I gave one to Uwe to say thank you (although I must stress the fact that he did not drink this while driving!)

On the way to the airport, I was treated to a taxi tour of Hamburg as it was my first opportunity to see the city all week.  From what I witnessed, it looks like a great city, full of history, with a contemporary feel to it.  This is one place I will definitely be coming back to visit.

I said my goodbyes to Uwe and proceeded to make my way back to England.  The first thing I did when I got back home was to have a cup of tea.  It was the first one all week and it had never tasted so good!  A little bit of Britishness that will always be a part of me.

Throughout the week, I learned a great deal, and not just about trees.  It was a great experience, going out to a different country and having to try and get along with people where there is a slight communication breakdown.  It is all character building. 

It was fantastic to get away and see something different.  I had heard so much about Von Ehrens, so to be there and see it for real was something very special.  The scale of the operation and the efficiency of the work is something the UK could learn a great deal from.  We have a long way to go if we want to compete.

So to anyone who is involved with trees, forestry and arboriculture, we all share with Von Ehrens the same common interest;

Wir lieben Bäume.