Abstracts

LOFGREN, D.E. 1986. How to write specs. Ground Maintenace 21(1):112, 114.

Properly prepared specifications are vital to achieving consistently smooth business relations with customers and clients. Know exactly what you want, and spell it out clearly. Make your requirements results oriented. Learn also to quantify by giving yourself and others measurable guideposts. Quantification factors include those that specify: time, distance, volume, weight, area, unit (per worker, machine), and cost. Spell out restrictions. Make your specifictions clear, concise and self-contained. Whenever practical, keep your specifications as a separate document from your written contract.

MORGAN, D. L. 1986. Repairing storm-damaged trees. Grounds Maintenance 21(1): 54-58.

Cascading tree limbs laden with ice and snow are the expectations of a beautiful winter season. Yet such scenes are the undoing of the arborist and homeowner who must bear the expense and effort of repairing damage caused by nature in her splendor. Drastic pruning is sometimes necessary after an ice or snow storm. When large limbs are damaged enough to present a threat to life or property, complete the pruning as quickly as possible. First, assess the damage. If the tree is badly split or limbs critical to its natural shape or health are broken, remove the entire tree. Proper pruning is one of the best things you can do to a tree to keep it healthy. Done improperly, is one of the worst. Proper pruning means removing branches without injuring the branch collar. Topping trees is still inadvisable. No matter how it’s done, topping will cause disfiguration and possibly serious damage. If a weak Y (or crotch) appears, cabling or bracing may be required. A great deal of controversy has emerged during the last decade over the use of tree paints on wounds and cuts. Although opponents argue that wound dressings retard the tree’s natural healing processes and seal in moisture (thereby creating conditions favor-to pathogenicity), pathologists studying oak wilt and other highly virulent diseases spread by insects remind us that paints may discourage these vectors from depositing fungal pathogens in tree.

• © 1987, International Society of Arboriculture. All rights reserved.