Specifying Tree Guards & Tree Grates: What You Need to Know
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Specifying Tree Guards & Tree Grates: What You Need to Know

Tree guards and grates have an important role to play in maintaining healthy tree pit conditions. They can also be as aesthetically pleasing as they are functional, and offer a high quality visual design statement to any public realm or streetscape theme.

For over 20 years, GreenBlue has been developing innovative products to assist trees below ground in their battle to establish and grow in hostile urban environments. With the GreenBlue ArborSystem® tree surround range, that same attention is focused on above ground tree conditions.

Ullswater Tree Guards

Design

Fervent testing and product development has ensured that even the most standard ArborSystem designs work well and look smart. Research and trials have helped to arrive at the most effective and robust tree guard coatings to offer a hassle-free life-span.

Inner Ring

Allows for a neat and professional central opening, while giving additional tensile strength as well as providing fixing points for the vertical steel guard.

Irrigation Inlet Fitting

The RootRain Precinct irrigation inlet is another example of product engineered for purpose – heavy duty cast LM6 material giving a permanent access point for water and air, so vital to the tree. A retaining bracket ensures simple installation and alignment of irrigation pipe.

Integral Features

Cast ductile grates can incorporate integral aperatures for irrigation / aeration inlets and uplighters. Twist lock aperature secures the fittings to avoid theft or sub-surface settlement differentiation.

Support Frames

Support frames involve many hours of development to produce a design that is easy to install, vandal resistant, cost effective, unobtrusive, and most importantly – dependable for load bearing. ArborSystem tree grate frames are engineered to the highest standards and can be rated to handle various loading requirements.

Built for Strength

Tree surrounds need to withstand the everyday traffic and loadings expected of urban hardscapes – and at times even not-so-everyday occurrences (like the tree guard hit-and-run shown below). Always ensure that the tree guard and grate you select is suited to the type of traffic and treatment you are expecting for the area. An advisor from the manufacturer should always help with this to confirm appropriate load-bearings will be met. ArborSystem heavy-duty tree grates are engineered to withstand any reasonable traffic overrun – including vehicular.

Tree Guards Built for Strength
This is what happens when a car runs into a tree in a shared space environment, and proves why tree protection is important. 

Structure

Tree guards may be fitted to medium or heavy duty frames or ground fixed when used in softscape. The simple adjusting mechanism allows guards to be easily set on most gradients.

ArborSystem® tree surrounds are engineered to an extremely high standard under rigorous quality controls. We take product development and quality very seriously, and consequently our product range represents the latest technology in urban tree protection.

Please share this article and consider downloading our Product Overview or viewing our tree guard & grate specs and details.