207-333 Amenity Tree Assessment and Management

The aim of the subject is to provide students with a thorough understanding of the assessment and management of individual and groups of trees in urban settings. Students will evaluate and compare methods of tree assessment. Students will gain an appreciation of the complexities of tree management for amenity sites.

Topics to be studied are:

• the evaluation and comparison of methods of tree assessment including the visual tree assessment (VTA) method;

• the evaluation and comparison of methods for the detection of decay and structural defects in trees;

• an appraisal of the management of amenity trees for different purposes, for example, street trees, historically significant trees, trees on private properties, trees in various other types of public open spaces;

• an appraisal of the management of amenity trees with different structural forms and anatomy, for example dicotyledonous trees versus monocotyledonous trees, decurrent versus excurrent trees;

• an appraisal of the management and protection of the roots of trees with different structural forms and tolerances;

• an evaluation of tree pathology and tree health problems in a wide range of amenity trees and sites;

• tree selection principles as applied to street trees, private properties and public open spaces;

• an appraisal of safe arboricultural work practices and advanced techniques for gaining access to the canopies of trees, and rescuing workers from trees; and

• determining the safest and most efficient method of removing inappropriate trees.

Major assignment 50% (maximum 5000 words), seminar presentation 20%, practical reports 30%.

• R W Harris, J R Clark and N P Mathony, Arboriculture: Integrated Management of Landscape Trees Shrubs and Vines. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1999.