Salcombe Town council are giving residents forewarning ahead of essential work to a much-loved tree on the Berry.

The Town Council carried out a canopy review of some of their trees in the summer, following recommendations from their Arboricultural Consultants.  From that review, among others, a substantial well-loved tree on The Berry has been marked for pruning to help it bounce back.  The tree is a large Ash suffering from Ash Die-Back in the upper canopy and has fungal growth at the base of the trunk.

The tree is situated in the middle of a woodland area with footpaths surrounding it where children like to create cycle tracks and attach swings to the largest branches.

The tree work that surgeons will carry out will be to remove the canopy and reduce limbs to five metres, which will take the wind pressure off the tree and prevent major branches from breaking off. 

Ash trees have been known to recover after this type of work but how this tree will respond to the work is unknown.

It is hoped that it will make a full recovery and regrow over the coming decades into the tree it was.

Whatever the fate after the works it will make the tree a safer bet, for hopefully some time, so it can continue to be used as a swing tree.