It's been a busy and interesting year for Herne Hill Tree Watch. And as 2020 draws to a close we're happy to report that thanks to your efforts, all our young trees survived the high temperatures and the low rainfall.
Our first 12 months of community volunteering and neighbourhood organising have been rewarded with the promise of more than 50 new trees from Southwark council. They’ll be arriving between now and early spring 2021.
Almost a third of these were requested by you, our volunteers and street leaders. And many of the others resulted from patient street surveys, trudging the pavements to identify where trees had once stood.
We're grateful to the council for acting on our suggestions, patiently looking into our quibbles and tying up the loose ends from previous years. And we’re thankful to our members and supporters for giving us the backing we needed to get this plan through. More on this below.
Stradella work party
First, a few words about our final maintenance job of the year. Residents of Stradella Road had been troubled for years by the dense basal growths (suckers and shoots near ground level) on the eight big silver maples (Acer saccharinum) on their street - five at the Burbage Road end and three off Half Moon Lane. Anyone who’s walked past them or tried to park next to them knows what a barrier they were for elderly people, buggies, wheelchairs and cars.
We couldn’t do anything about them until the winter, when the maples were fully dormant, otherwise any pruning cuts would have bled sap. So James Thompson, the chair of the Stradella and Springfield Residents’ Association, gathered together 12 volunteers from Stradella and the neighbouring roads on December 9.
With their secateurs, loppers, pruning saws, hi-vis jackets and a convoy of brown bins for the cuttings, they set off in small groups on a cold and grey morning to work the whole length of the street.
As well as pruning the maples they tackled other minor jobs and removed several outgrown tree cages before meeting up for hot drinks and chocolate brownies in James’s driveway. “It was a great success and the street is looking a lot better for it,” he said.
Southwark’s arborists will follow up in January 2021, tackling the heaviest basal growths (some up to 2 inches/5 cm in diameter), pollarding the upper limbs and clearing the lower branches up to a height of 5 metres.
New trees for Herne Hill
There will be lots and lots of watering for everyone to do next spring. Southwark’s contractors and arborists have already planted two new trees in our area in the past three weeks and will be putting in another 12 around the Christmas period, followed by 38 more between February and the end of May. We’ll be talking to the tree officers about providing three more that we believe have been committed.
The 12 going into the ground in the next few weeks are all trees that were promised in previous seasons but delayed by the coronavirus lockdown. And the 38 being planted from February to the end of May are all replacements for trees that have been felled in recent years - what the tree officers call ‘historic losses’.
They’ve come up with a welcome mix of interesting and unusual species alongside the commoner trees that you see on our roads. The programme for Herne Hill includes three tassel cherries (Prunus litigiosa), for example: upright trees whose pink-white blossoms have long tassel-like stamens (the pollen-producing part of the flower).
There are also six new Yoshinos, the stunning cherries that Winterbrook Road has made famous, a quince and four UK natives: a common lime, a hornbeam and a pair of aspens that will benefit local wildlife.
Here's the full list, street by street, as it currently stands. Obviously some details may change in the coming weeks and months. A location formatted as ‘No. 13/15’ indicates the tree will be placed between two houses.
Two trees planted Nov-Dec 2020:
Casino Avenue
Outside 27 Herne Hill: Ligustrum (Privet)
Stradella Road
No. 87/89: Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip tree)
12 trees to be planted imminently (Dec 2020-Jan 2021):
Burbage Road
No. 85: Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo)
Carver Rd
No. 1/3: Betula pendula (Silver birch)
Casino Avenue
No. 114: Populus tremula (Aspen)
No. 115: Populus tremula (Aspen)
Elfindale Road
Between no. 2 and 79 Herne Hill: Prunus 'Sunset Boulevard' (Sunset Boulevard cherry)
No. 4/6: Prunus 'Sunset Boulevard' (Sunset Boulevard cherry)
Elmwood Road
No. 13/15: Betula pendula (Silver birch)
No. 23/25: Betula pendula (Silver birch)
Hollingbourne Road
No. 25: Prunus x yedoensis (Yoshino cherry)
Between no. 57 and Warmington Road: Betula utilis jacquemontii (Himalayan birch)
Holmdene Avenue
Between no. 96 and Half Moon Lane: Liriodendron tulipifera (Tulip tree)
Winterbrook Road
No. 30/32: Prunus x yedoensis (Yoshino cherry)
38 trees to be planted Feb-May 2021:
Burbage Road
● At the side of no. 44 Half Moon Lane: Betula utilis jacquemontii (Himalayan birch)
Carver Road
No. 13: Prunus litigiosa (Tassel cherry)
No. 36A: Prunus litigiosa (Tassel cherry)
No. 53: Prunus litigiosa (Tassel cherry)
Casino Avenue
Opposite no. 8: Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo)
Outside no. 36, in garden square: Carpinus betulus (Common hornbeam)
Outside no. 87, on grass verge: Catalpa bignoniodes 'Aurea' (Golden Indian bean tree)
Danecroft Road
No. 59: Sophora japonica (Japanese pagoda tree)
No. 65: Sophora japonica (Japanese pagoda tree)
Elfindale Road
No. 19: Prunus avium 'Plena' (Double-flowered wild cherry)
Elmwood Road
Opposite no. 74: Betula utilis jacquemontii (Himalayan birch)
At side of no. 96 Frankfurt: (Platanus x hispanica) London plane
Between no. 2A and 63 Herne Hill: Betula utilis jacquemontii (Himalayan birch)
Frankfurt Road
No. 21: Betula utilis jacquemontii: Betula utilis jacquemontii (Himalayan birch)
No. 24: Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo)
No. 30: Ginkgo biloba (Ginkgo)
Half Moon Lane
No. 29: Platanus x hispanica (London plane)
No. 37: Platanus x hispanica (London plane)
Hollingbourne Road
No. 1: Either Amelanchier (snowy mespil) or Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis' (winter-flowering cherry)
No. 3: Prunus x yedoensis (Yoshino cherry)
No. 16/18: Prunus 'Kanzan' (Kanzan cherry)
No. 51: Either Amelanchier (snowy mespil) or Prunus subhirtella 'Autumnalis' (winter-flowering cherry)
Holmdene Avenue
No. 18: Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon' (Sweet gum)
Red Post Hill
Cassinghurst House: Tilia x europaea (Common lime)
Cassinghurst House: Aesculus x carnea (Red horse chestnut)
No. 42: Tilia henryana (Henry's lime)
No. 54: Tilia henryana (Henry's lime)
Ruskin Walk
Opposite no. 3: Prunus 'Umineko' Umineko cherry
No. 26: Prunus 'Umineko' Umineko cherry
Stradella Road
Opposite no. 1: Prunus x yedoensis (Yoshino cherry)
No. 50: Prunus x yedoensis (Yoshino cherry)
Sunray Avenue
Outside no. 16/18, on grass verge: Liquidambar styraciflua 'Worplesdon' (Sweet gum)
Outside no. 49-71, in garden square: Cydonia oblongo (Common quince)
Outside no. 49-71, in garden square: Prunus dulcis (Almond) (1 of 2)
Outside no. 49-71, in garden square: Prunus dulcis (Almond) (1 of 2)
Outside no. 113, on grass verge: Prunus 'Sunset Boulevard' (Sunset Boulevard cherry)
Winterbrook Road
Opposite church: Prunus x yedoensis (Yoshino cherry) (1 of 2)
Opposite church: Prunus x yedoensis (Yoshino cherry) (1 of 2)
3 trees missing from the programme
There are still two trees that need to be scheduled for planting at the top of Elfindale Road, on the odd-numbered side of the street. They’re part of a Cleaner Greener Safer award won by Matt Simpson, our street leader.
These will go along the side of 77 Herne Hill, facing two trees across the road: the existing Himalayan birch at the junction with the main road and the 'Sunset Boulevard' cherry being planted shortly outside 79 Herne Hill.
And we're hoping to find a replacement location on Holmdene Avenue for a Sophora that was originally earmarked for no. 38/40. Let us know if you see any new trees being planted on your street.
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