Most builders are perfectly capable of working successfully around trees.

Occasionally, though, a sentence is spoken that causes an arboriculturist’s heart rate to increase.

Here are some classics.

“We’re only digging down 300mm.”

Only.

Unfortunately, a substantial proportion of tree rooting activity occurs in relatively shallow soil.

300mm can therefore be quite an interesting depth.

The significance depends on where the excavation is, the tree, the rooting environment and what roots are encountered.

“There weren’t many roots.”

This statement usually arrives after the excavation.

It would have been considerably more useful beforehand.

The number of roots isn’t the only issue anyway.

Size, position and function matter.

One significant root can be rather more interesting than fifty tiny ones.

“The digger driver was really careful.”

Good.

Unfortunately, excavator buckets remain extremely effective root-removal equipment even when operated politely.

Where excavation near important trees needs special controls, those controls should be specified before the machine starts.

“We’ll put the fence back afterwards.”

The tree protection fence is most useful during the operation that required its removal.

Putting it back afterwards has a certain ceremonial quality.

“It was only there for five minutes.”

This normally refers to an excavator, dumper, delivery vehicle or enormous stack of materials.

Soil compaction doesn’t require a minimum subscription period.

“We needed somewhere to put the spoil.”

Of course.

Every site needs material-storage areas.

Which is exactly why somebody should identify them before construction starts.

The protected rooting area shouldn’t become the default answer to every unanswered site-logistics question.

“We’ve always done it this way.”

This is not necessarily reassuring.

Humanity did many things for a very long time before discovering better ways of doing them.

“Nobody told us.”

This is the most important one.

Sometimes they’re right.

A technically excellent Arboricultural Method Statement sitting unread in somebody’s email account protects very little.

Tree protection information has to reach the people actually doing the work.

Good arboricultural planning therefore isn’t just about writing reports.

It is about producing instructions that survive contact with a construction site.

Because the best tree-protection method in the world is useless if the person holding the excavator controls has never heard of it.

Christopher Payne | Arboriculture Consultant