As you approach the town of Winton in the heart of Southland, you are greeted by the sight of a dozen or so London Plane trees, pollarded to to the max and begging the question, is this a the best way to manage an ammenity tree?
There are I believe, circumstances where pollarding is a worthwhile process, especially where the branches that are removed each year have some value for furniture making, stock food, firewood or some other use, but controlling the size of a tree doesn't cut it for me.
Perhaps modern street side plantings are now made with trees that don't grow enormous, as these ones do.
A great deal of ugliness could be avoided by chosing a more appropriate species.
2 comments:
A very outdated practice, my local council seems to hate trees, and a few very vocal and very belligerent locals don't help things either.
"the only good tree is a dead bastard" a neighbour once said to me, and I nearly came to blows with a fellow down the road when I asked him why he was cutting down several street trees.
The concept of community seems almost totally lost on some people "its my patch and I'll do what I damn well like with it!!"
Still, all is not lost, there seems to be a growing dissatisfaction with the way the powers that be are managing the town and their turn a blind eye approach to grumpy tree haters.
Want to join my 'Ents' club Shunda?
The problem lies with the original selection process, I reckon. Council staff in the past based their choices on what they learned from text books that still favoured European trees over any others.
Plane trees? Why on earth?
Have you begun encouraging homeowners to plant their roadsides with suitable trees yet Shunda? If enough of them do it, thoughtfully and within the rules, the trees will win!
I had the council out here yesterday making enquiries about the trees I planted on the verge over the road and they went away quite satisfied. Done carefully, community-driven street-side enhancement can work well.
As for your grumpy tree haters, be patient. One day they'll be feeding the very trees they despise.
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