Haringey Trees

Unusual Lime

2010-11-04T09:53:00.002Z

Adrian and I were fascinated by the leaves of this lime tree while on a BTCV work day. Never seen one like this before. It is in Stationer's Park. Tilia mongolica (Mongolian lime), I am surprised that it is not more popular.

Dangerous rot

2010-06-20T15:13:00.013+01:00

Immediate response from Islington tree officer to call from Tree Trust member meant this Highbury street tree was removed the same day. Pictures show extent of rot. Notice the almost vertical paving slab on the other side of the tree - was it on the move already? Are the holes part of the vascular system of the tree? Did insects play a part? How much of this rot was hastened by using the base of the tree as a dump for rubbish and rock salt heap in the winter?

Picture shows inside of tree decay cavity, taken upwards towards saw cut.

Dog damage

2010-04-06T13:33:00.003+01:00

Dog damaged branch in Alexandra Park.

More signs of spring

2010-04-06T10:52:00.004+01:00

We saw a thrush sitting on her nest

in a chestnut tree in Alexandra Park,

3 April 2010.

Spring at last

2010-04-06T10:39:00.006+01:00

Horse Chestnut tree buds opening in Alexandra Park.

Tree Wardens/Tree Trust informal walk 3 April 2010.

Spring has come at last!

Grey poplar catkins

2010-03-26T15:11:00.002Z

Grey poplar catlins on Tottenham Marshes Friday 26 March.

Street trees in Wood Green

2010-03-26T09:39:00.003Z

On Saturday 20 February tree wardens, guided by Tree Officer Babs Millington, looked at some of the street trees in Wood Green. Here's a beautiful silver birch, an example of a really good street tree.

Who let this happen?

2010-02-24T14:36:00.008Z

Double leader on the left and crossing branches below should both have been dealt with in the nursery before planting out.

Damage to street trees

2010-02-24T14:30:00.004Z

A nasty example of a broken branch. Trees suffer damage from vehicles, dogs and more likely in this case from humans. We removed it and the one to the right.

Strangulation

2010-02-24T14:21:00.003Z

Poor thing! Cord was tied so tightly around this branch that the tree has grown around and there is now no possibility of removing it.

Where's the tree?

2010-02-24T14:13:00.003Z

Growth from the base of the tree can be unsightly and cause problems but one argument for leaving at least some of it is that it can help prevent damage by dogs.

Supporting trees - yes.

2010-02-24T14:09:00.002Z

Now this is how it should be done.

Supporting street trees - no!

2010-02-24T14:00:00.008Z

How not to support trees.

The top picture shows how the posts have rubbed the trunk and damaged it.

Bruce Castle Oak

2010-01-10T16:53:00.002Z

The veteran oak in Bruce Castle Park. An impressive sight during the snowstorm on Wednesday 6 January.

2009-12-06T18:58:00.002Z

Saturday morning. The rain stopped just in time for a band of tree wardens, under the supervision of haringey's hard working senior tree officer [and he does allotments too] Alex Fraser, to start planting trees in Priory Park. Alex's assistant was also on hand to make sure we did it properly. We put in five saplings altogether,two Sweet Chestnuts, a Walnut and two Rowans [or maybe it was the other way round..], close to the main path through the park. Some of us dug holes, and heaved trees round the park, others stood and watched and told us how we were doing it wrong...These were five of the more than 800 trees Alex and his team hope to have planted all over Haringey by spring. If you want a tree in your street or park, ask Alex and he may well plant one for you. By 12.30 we were done, and on our way to fun and frolics in the Union Church for the Tree Trust's 13th birthday party, attended by about 60 friends of trees. Great music from the Croissants, photo dispalys,food,drink, raffle..it had the lot and was a great success, due to hard work by the tree trust committee and their friends.

Launching Edible Landscapes in Priory Park 28 Nov 2009

2009-12-05T18:36:00.002Z

Saturday morning. The rain stopped just in time for a band of tree wardens, under the supervision of haringey's hard working senior tree officer [and he does allotments too] Alex Fraser, to start planting trees in Priory Park. Alex's assistant was also on hand to make sure we did it properly. We put in five saplings altogether, two Sweet Chestnuts, a Walnut and two Rowans [or maybe it was the other way round..], close to the main path through the park. Some of us dug holes, and heaved trees round the park, others stood and watched and told us how we were doing it wrong...These were five of the more than 800 trees Alex and his team hope to have planted all over Haringey by spring. If you want a tree in your street or park, ask Alex and he may well plant one for you.
By 12.30 we were done, and on our way to fun and frolics in the Union Church for the Tree Trust's 13th birthday party, attended by about 60 friends of trees. Great music from the Croissants, photo displays, food, drink, raffle..it had the lot and was a great success, due to hard work by the tree trust committee and their friends.

The Ferry Lane Willow Tree

2009-10-13T19:41:00.004+01:00

This beautiful willow should have been given full protection before work started on this massive site on Ferry Lane Estate. Some people may remember its magnificence shading the pub as they walked or cycled along the towpath next to the river. As you can see from the picture(s) no care was taken and they hacked off great boughs because they were in the way of the building! This tree will become a 'nuisance tree' as it is too close to the building. How did the plans get through the planning process? The site is so massive allowing the tree just a bit more room would not have involved much less profit.

SE regional tree warden forum - a great day out in windsor great park

2009-10-05T10:08:00.001+01:00

tree wardens admiring veterans.

Cranes in trees in Cranley Gardens

2009-10-02T14:17:00.005+01:00

Trees are in the way of deliveries on this site in Cranley Gardens although they are all supposed to be protected on any building site according to British Standards, but that needs monitoring and enforcement. Don't hold your breath.

The Imaginary Tree

2009-09-29T09:37:00.003+01:00

Press release from Tree Trust for Haringey and Cranley Gardens Residents Association

The Imaginary Tree:

Haringey Council’s tree policy is put to the test

Haringey’s policy for the management of Council-owned trees is being put to the test by an Isle of Man company responsible for the development of new houses on the site of the former garden centre in Cranley Gardens, Muswell Hill.

A garage has been built immediately behind one of the street’s cherished cherry blossom trees. Haringey Council has now received an application to have a vehicle crossover constructed exactly where the tree is, which would necessitate its removal.

That would however be contrary to the Council’s policy which states:

‘Permission to remove trees to allow for new crossovers will not be granted except in extenuating circumstances or there is a good arboricultural reason to do so.’

(Tree Strategy 2008-2011, Section 5.4 vehicle crossovers)

The garage got planning permission, but only on the basis that there wasn’t a street tree in front of it.

Haringey’s development control should be able to confirm that planning permission was gained with the street tree being deleted from the planning application and the developer answering ‘no’ to the question on the planning application form asking whether any trees need to be removed or pruned to carry out the proposal. The application went before the Planning Inspectorate too, at which stage the developer appealed for planning permission on the basis that ‘all those trees currently existing in the surrounding area will be retained’.

The tree that isn’t there but ‘needs to be removed’:

“The Council does have a robust tree policy and the fact that the existence of the street tree shown in the picture was denied in the planning procedures does not give the Council carte blanche to contravene its own policies. It beats me how this has gone through to this stage, but it would send the wrong message to developers everywhere if Haringey Council allowed the removal of this tree” says Peter Corley, Chair of Tree Trust for Haringey. “The young tree was planted some years ago to replace one which was damaged by a vehicle collision and can be seen to be in a good condition despite damage inflicted on it since construction works began”.

Picture of the tree taken 26^th September, 2009:

Haringey Council’s view is that ‘trees play an essential role in towns and cities providing a wide range of environmental, economic and social benefits. Some benefits are measurable – such as improvements in air quality, many are not, but they can have a positive impact on the lives of those living and working in the urban environment.’ (http://www.haringey.gov.uk/index/environment_and_transport/leisure_nature_and_conservation/nature_and_conservation_trees/treestrategy.htm

Death in the garden - by the Old Schoolhouse

2009-09-28T20:38:00.008+01:00

The pictue shows the pathetic patches where three carefully nurtured seedlings had been planted out to eventually take the place of the older trees. These seedlings had thrived and were healthy but then someone took a dislike to them.

Fairly soon the big trees here will be gone and despite all the many plantings and ceremony, all that will be left will be a junkies' bench surrounded by fast food and drinks containers on a barren patch of grass. If the council can afford it, there might be some flowers in the beds, but pretty flowers have little impact on air quality and heat islands. Do you still think that a nice bench in the dark attracts nature lovers and is a human right which must not be removed?

the pipers' legacy in Tottenham Lane

2009-09-28T20:33:00.007+01:00

Essential works maybe but the roots of this lime could have been protected to avoid unnecessary damage to the tree. As it is, time will tell if the tree has sufficient reserves to survive the loss of nearly half its fibrous roots and then having alkaline concrete replace the medium in which they had grown. There used to be a thing called NJUG (National Joint Utilities Guidelines) which recommended methods of protecting tree roots exposed during trenching works. Still, our society doesn't manage to protect babies, so who is going to bother about trees?

The picture shows the remnants of the tree's roots coming from the right, under the concrete and the trench cover.

Tree Pit Uses

2009-09-24T12:04:00.004+01:00

This tree pit housed a nice new tree until the local resident decided he hated trees and removed it. Although the Haringey Tree Section wrote to all the neighbours about the proposed planting, not a soul contacted them to voice their objection. This picture taken in August shows how quickly opportunist plants can taken a hold. Note the particularly upright mode of growth of the as yet unidentified specimen. Sadly, like most environmental crimes, this one went unpunished. Thanks for the nice flowers, seed guerrilla.

Zebra at N17

2009-08-19T10:00:00.002+01:00

Designed for environmental crime: This zebra crossing is a boon for peds but what about the poor old tree? This layout says 'Don't bother to use the very expensive paving we (you) have provided, just take the shortest path between two points, compact the soil and make the place look ugly. We have qualifications to make these decisions for you and if the tree dies we have lots of money to plant a new one. Or perhaps we could just pave it all over with non-permeable imports and save the trouble.'

Caring for trees

2009-08-11T16:38:00.002+01:00

Work being undertaken next to Risley School on the Roundway, Tottenham demonstrates the care which can be taken to protect trees if you really want to. In an ideal world no tree would ever be damaged by pavement work but at this site they have wrapped the exposed roots with sacking and the lower portion of the trunk of each tree is covered with a protective wrap.

On the other side of the road the trees growing in grass each have an area around the base free of grass so that grasscutting operations do not damage them. It will be interesting to know whether herbicides have been used or whether it is the result of mulching. Watch this space. If only this system could have been adopted for Downhills Way.

rare medlar-thorn

2009-08-08T00:26:00.005+01:00

2/5/09 tree walk in st ann's hospital grounds,
medlar-thorn [X Crataemespilus grandiflora]

copper beech

2009-08-07T23:34:00.007+01:00

2/5/09 tree walk in st ann's hospital grounds, copper beech [Fagus sylvatica Purpurea]

holm oaks in wood lane, N6

2009-07-30T10:53:00.004+01:00

this impressive pair of holm oaks in adjacent gardens have merged canopies (pic 2/2/2009) [Quercus ilex]

Oldest Horse Chestnut tree in Haringey

2009-07-30T10:40:00.004+01:00

3/5/08 In the grounds of the Methodist Church in Pages Lane, N10. [Aesculus hippocastanum]

Lime blossom

2009-07-30T10:38:00.005+01:00

16/6/09 First lime blossom of the year near East Hale Allotments, Tottenham Marshes [Tilia spp]

limes in concrete

2009-07-30T10:31:00.002+01:00

muswell hill road, at the top of wood lane, N6
the mafia came along recently and gave these limes some concrete boots [Tilia spp]

is this normal?

decapitation

2009-07-24T22:13:00.002+01:00

what happened here?! snapped alder in lordship rec