Closing parts of a garden due to winds

[OneNaiceTealMoose]

I'm in the NW and a RHS garden centre has closed areas due to winds and trees possibly falling. The garden centre has established trees for many decades and they've closed many areas of the garden due to winds. Yes it is windy today, don't believe it's a severe weather warning and winds seem to be 43mph.

Aibu in thinking that's over the top to close any area with trees?

But a park is different. The way the trees are treated is different. There won't be any old branches because they will have been attended to according to a strict code for places with public access.

Trees of a more sensitive nature can't just be lopped here and there for the sake of the public. They are too precious. It's better to keep the public out under certain conditions and have them looking how they are supposed to the rest of the time.

Arboriculture is an in depth subject

Because of cases like this:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-20451105

Do you normally expect the entire world to revolve around you, OP? There will be other garden centres available.

No OP, opinions aren't necessarily factually true.

Your opinion may be that a 40 mph isn't much to write home about but the fact is that it is a gale, and this can be dangerous.

Our local park closes some of the more popular, tree-heavy parts when winds are forecast to be 40mph. It’s quite a big one too.

Risk assessments are woke. Elf 'n' safety gorn mad. Kids today, eh? Snowflakes, the lot of 'em. I had a tree fall on me when I was 8 and it didn't do me any harm. Nanny state.

The local council has gone Reform now though, so they'll sort it. Simple as. End of.

About a month ago I was watching a sports game at an oval and a man came up and warned my group to move away from the trees. He was going up to every single group on the oval and warning them. There was only a slight breeze and we didn’t move.

About 20 minutes later we heard a loud crack and a thud. A branch the size of a tree fell right where a young family had been sitting only 10 minutes earlier.

I’ve since learned those trees are called widow makers.

You don’t know what you’re talking about.

Tress can and do fall down at anytime, but potential outcomes are calculated on a Risk Assessment by likelihood. So as the likelihood of trees falling down increases with higher winds, the risk of a tree (or branches, debris etc) falling increases too.
They are absolutely taking the right steps in order to protect their visitors. From your post it sounds like they have only closed off certain areas of the grounds? Perhaps they're in a more informed position that yourself to recognise the trees which may pose a problem?
Perhaps you can look forward to a visit another day when the wind speed is lower. Enjoy your day out!

Very windy where I live today and if the trees are very old, then they're making the right call. If there is dead wood and the trees need some management that hasn't happened yet, for whatever reason, then it's even more so the right thing to do. Whatever anyone does anywhere else out in the world at large in windy conditions or inclement weather generally is entirely up to them, but they have a responsibility to the general public and it's possible there has been a previous incident. Better safe than sorry don't you think? The wind is strong enough to cause damage, it already has to trees in my area.

The trees are in leaf which makes them more top heavy, especially when wet. Saw a few branches down when we went shopping, this morning.

Well either way they don't want to risk injury. So they have their reasons.

You're literally here complaining about parts of a park being shut down.

Talk about tell me you're a Reform supporter without telling me you're a Reform supporter.

I agree, OP. They should definitely allow you into the closed part to wander under branches in high winds to your heart's content. Have you thought of phoning the police (non-emergency) number and making a report?

This thread is brilliant. I'm sure OP wouldn't sue if she got hit by a falling tree. She's put it down to dumb luck.

They have a duty of care and will have risk assessed. It’s really gusty today, my other half is away and told me that a couple of trees had blown down over night in the forest near where he’s staying. I’m sure the people making the decision are far more knowledgeable about the risks than you are.

Go and stand under a tree, OP. It'll be funny.

If you’re an RHS member, you probably know that RHS Wisley’s arboretum is regularly closed for winds.

I work in a forest school. We would deem woodland activities too risky at 40mph as would our insurance. Better inconvenience than a branch to the head.

I’d say it’s about standard. My daughter was due to have a party at the local Forest School but it was cancelled due to high winds. Their insurance won’t allow the public to use the forest when wind gusts are over 40mph.

Almost certainly a beech tree. They are especially dangerous when it's been very dry too!

It's quite interesting as they can isolate one branch to conserve water and nutrients, that branch then dies and can fall at any time. If you go camping you should never camp under a beech tree for this reason. There was a case quite recently in Cornwall where this happened and a couple were killed.