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I am absolutely MORTIFIED by what is being done to the beautiful trees that find themselves on City of Brandon property.  
 
Street, after street, after street of mature trees is being massacred - left with out branches anywhere below twenty feet from the ground. I of course am aware that some 'trimming' is necessary to ensure safe traffic flow and visibility of traffic signs. It is of utmost importance that we as drivers be able to see signage in order to prevent accidents etc. And, yes, I also understand that some clearing occurs to accommodate hydro lines. But so many branches and mature limbs are being removed that all that is left is branches fifty feet or more up. And so very many aren't even on hydro line sides of the street.  
 
And then, the total removal of trees from the boulevards!! Yes, some are purely diseased. But many, many others are just DYING because they cannot sustain life because there are not enough branches carrying leaves to absorb the sun's energy!!  
 
And certain streets keep getting 'hit' year, after year, after year! No time for even a bit of growth and regeneration. Bare, branchless trunks. UNNECESSARY.  
 
'Pruning' is what the City refers to it as. That is a joke. What is being done is so detrimental to our environment and our future. These trees will eventually all be lost. I am embarrassed to see such poor, unprofessional care being taken of our city.  
 
APPALLING.  
 
 
 
 
Edited by bethechangeyouwanttosee, 2016-03-15 18:44:35

It's been brutal how they've been butchering them. Some of it needed to be done - the species of tree in my neighbourhood for example hasn't been maintained and now they're splitting - but it's so sad so see how sparse they are now. They even removed the tree in front of my house (I cried!), and have yet a year later to come grind the stump despite my asking them to come do it and the department telling me I'm "on the list" for stump removal and replanting.  
 
*sigh*

I was at a ward meeting last year and tree trimming was brought up as an issue. The General Manager said that the City hires and trains their staff as arborists. I would suggest that they are well aware of the proper care of the trees. They also said the city has a map of all of the trees they own and have scheduled maintenance. I think they do a pretty great job on my street. Where have you noted a bad job?

I have seen quite a few butcher jobs around the city. I would be surprised to learn that Brandon has any licensed arborists on staff. Don't they just use people from the parks department.

our neighbourhood trees were trimmed last year, they did a great job. The branches were overhanging the sidewalks making it dangerous to walk. They are trimmed to a perfect height with no danger of taking your eye out. No complaints. Without a doubt they will need a trim again next year.

Prizzy said "I have seen quite a few butcher jobs around the city. I would be surprised to learn that Brandon has any licensed arborists on staff. Don't they just use people from the parks department. "

I actually have a friend who works for the city(parks dept.) who is a licenced arborist and has been for years. And yes they do use people from the parks department, but Im not really sure what you mean by that comment.  
 
Edited by The_Young_Man, 2016-03-15 19:29:12

Yes, hardly recognize my street as the boulevard trees were hit hard. So exposed and lost a lot of its character. Full beautiful tree and the next day gone.

after I absolutely went up one side of the workers and down the other side. Purely a make work project. They did it to the trees in front of my house two years in a row. Nice mature full trees pruned vertical. I got the "they are arborists" and "the trees will split" B.S. also. The trees in front of my house were not even elm that are prone to splitting and they were not old enough to split anyway. they took the top off a cherry and left nothing but a trunk. Might as well cut it down now.

Off the Cuff said "I was at a ward meeting last year and tree trimming was brought up as an issue. The General Manager said that the City hires and trains their staff as arborists. I would suggest that they are well aware of the proper care of the trees. They also said the city has a map of all of the trees they own and have scheduled maintenance. I think they do a pretty great job on my street. Where have you noted a bad job? "

Most arborists have degrees, or at least a certificate of some kind from a post-secondary institution.  
 
You mean all these yahoos from the Parks Dept have university degrees and are working for the Parks Dept? I think not.  
 
You can train someone with some arborist know-how, but it doesn't mean they'll be good at it. Just like you can train a guy at H&R Block to do taxes, but it doesn't mean they're an accountant.  
 
As for bad job, come take a gander at my neighbourhood. They did save a few trees, I'll grant them that, but the canopy has been destroyed on my street.  
 
Edited by Abbysmum, 2016-03-15 23:12:55

After every windstorm or heavy snowstorm the city is flooded with claims by people wanting them to pay for damage to their property by city owned trees. This has prompted them to be proactive and deal with trees and branches deemed to be unsafe. I wonder if they were to have an adoption program that allowed a person to adopt a tree and assume all responsibility for damage done by that tree if left untrimmed how many people would step up and accept the responsibility.

All trees, regardless of location should be trimmed on a 5 metre vertical height from the curb line for traffic safety.  
 
As for your supposition that the Parks Department is staffed by yahoo's, nice douchebaggery you have going there.You can be a certified Arborist with out a useless university degree.

where you got that information from. But a post-secondary degree is not required to be an Arborist. While some might get a business degree but a lot don't.  
 
 
https://www.gov.mb.ca/conservation/forestry/ded-urban/arborists.html  
 
 
 
Edited by Trevor B, 2016-03-16 07:22:58

The reason we got a new mayor was taxes, could you imagine the howling on Ebradon, if the mayor hired a bunch of Arborist with degrees to the city payroll, if its true they did to reduce liability, its to save you money, and looks like they did it as cheaply as possible to save you money.where getting what the people wanted keeping the taxes down.

I was basing my information on general information on the internet and, well, dealing with arborists that I've hired to care for the trees on my property. Some do have more than 24 hours of post-secondary instruction, as outlined on the provincial link. At least, the good ones do.  
 
As for trimming them to 5 meters, first show me that because that seems excessive. Second, if that's the case the trees should be maintained on a yearly basis. I have lived in this neighbourhood for over 10 years, and in this house for over 6. There was no trimming prior to 18? 24? months ago, and the first trim was relatively minor, clearing it probably to a height of 3 meters. The canopy was preserved. Last winter they hacked off large portions of the trees, removing in excess of 5m and removing large portions of the canopy. Something like that is best done gradually, every year or two, as the tree grows and matures. They were very, very sparse this past summer and I would be surprised if they survive.  
 
And don't give me "you get what you voted for" because this started before the current watch.  
 
 
 
Edited by Abbysmum, 2016-03-16 08:24:45

Midway55 said "The reason we got a new mayor was taxes, could you imagine the howling on Ebradon, if the mayor hired a bunch of Arborist with degrees to the city payroll, if its true they did to reduce liability, its to save you money, and looks like they did it as cheaply as possible to save you money.where getting what the people wanted keeping the taxes down. "

to trim a tree, just a bit of work experience and the knowledge of how the tree grows! Dad worked for the city and trimmed quite a few trees in his lifetime, oh and he's not a yahoo!  
 
It's about time that the trees were properly looked after, it's not good to be walking city sidewalks and having to bend like a pretzel to avoid getting hit in the head with low hanging branches!  
 

I am aware of a beautiful, beautiful streets where the trees stretched across to eachother creating full, four and eight block canopies and they were butchered to nothing.  
 
AGAIN! WHY????  
 
No one cares, that's why.  
 
I have watched, year after year, these people come by my street, and tons of others, and saw off twiglets!! Twiglet after twiglet - the tiniest pieces. So depressing. Of course the mature limbs go too, but I have seen them cut five inch pieces off and spend 15 minutes doing it.  
 
What can we do?? Can we do anything??  
 
 
 
 
 
Edited by bethechangeyouwanttosee, 2016-03-16 09:08:02

Have seen a block that's recently been done. Not an arborist but to the eye they don't look great right now. Will withhold final opinion for after the wounds heal... They stand out like a sore thumb right now as exposed wood against bark but they should start to heal as spring breaks.  
 
Totally respect that they have a whole city to cover and don't have eyes everywhere without reports from residents but wish they had a chance to do our street before late night tree trimming bandit went all along several blocks and left branches all over the sidewalk  
 
Not sure the type of trees you're looking at and don't want to minimize importance of an attractive line of trees (that don't get in the way) along a street but if they happen to be ash I wonder if they could already be on borrowed time?  
http://www.ebrandon.ca/messagethread.aspx?message_id=906309&cat_id=3  

If they don't trim the branches, during a windstorm they break off. They look a lot worse broken than they do after city crews are done.  
 
Not to mention the complaints from people about branches in their yard and damage to vehicles/property/pets/outhouses etc.  
 
Let city engineers and workers handle it and be grateful they are. They aren't just trimming them willy nilly, it's for safety and also beneficial to the tree's them self  
 
If you cut of branches, the tree puts more energy into growing it's main trunk, which gives them a stonger and more hardier base. Which stands up better in bad weather or someone sliding through a stop sign and hitting them, etc..  
 
Don't complain and be happy they are being proactive.  
 
Edited by Pine, 2016-03-16 12:03:27

They are trees......... Get over it. They grow back.

This thread has been enlightening. To the City workers who trim the trees: THANK YOU! We really appreciate that you trim the trees! There is a big one just outside our property line that rubs the shingles off our house and we have phoned about it in the past and my husband ended up trimming it ourselves to protect our roof. But this year he won't have to!

Ok first of all if you dont have the schooling behind tree cutting you should keep your mouth shut! The test for an arbourist degree is very intense and lenthy. If your tree is dead at your home would you like for it to fall on you and your car and get hurt or would you like it to be cut.  
All I've noticed of brandon people is that the need to complain. You dont appreciate the hard work that goes into looking after the city.  
There is a lot that goes into the cutting and pruning of tree's.  
There are tree cutters that care about what the tree will look like after it is pruned and will try to not butcher it.  
 
The city does hire arborists  
There not just anyone off the street-or people who sit around and complain all day

Where are these trees located?  

As somebody else pointed out, they're trees, they'll grow back.  
 
I love how people who don't know the first thing about tree trimming want to criticize those that do. I can bet that none of you that are complaining are arborists either, you just think your personal opinion should mean something. Sorry, but it doesn't.

Lots of emotion coming out in this thread. Caring is good no matter where you stand on the topic  
 
For anyone with an interest in the general topic of pruning I though the link below was a real good read to put into perspective some of the decisions that are made when pruning and deciding what branches to take:  
http://www.extension.umn.edu/garden/yard-garden/trees-shrubs/pruning-trees-shrubs/  
 
Edited by Adam, 2016-03-16 22:10:01

Have a life span. Triaging or removal of unkempt or dead trees makes sense. If the City cannot afford to properly look after and maintain our trees, either plant more durable species, easier to maintain species, or just quit planting them! In Rosser ward we watched for years as trees were double planted (a small new tree was tucked in between two old massive trees) on the boulevards. Mostly what happened was the small trees grew twisted or sideways in their struggle to get sunlight. That causes increased expenditure as the trees required staking, pruning or removal. CENTER boulevards are a fine place for trees. There they would not block signage, light from the street lights or addresses and business signs. Less is more when it comes to trees - I like kites not leafy nightmares.

"douchebaggery" was a nice touch.