As the lockdown eases a little, we’ve had some great news from the council: we can start going out volunteering in small groups again. But as we strike out with our pruning saws and loppers, don't forget that the most pressing job by far is still watering vulnerable young trees.
Volunteering is back
We haven't been allowed to organise any volunteer work since March, but we've now got the go-ahead as long as we socially distance and limit our teams to the numbers allowed to meet outdoors.
Paul and Jeff have managed to do a few high-priority maintenance tasks by themselves over the last three months, but the backlog has been building up. The guidance from Southwark says you can't volunteer if you or anyone in your household has coronavirus symptoms; if you're pregnant; and if you're clinically vulnerable to COVID-19.
We won’t be able to work anywhere that's too crowded to maintain a 2-metre distance and everyone should wash their hands with soap before and after the job. Don't share your tools, bring hand sanitiser and wear a hi-vis jacket and gloves (we'd recommend thick gardening gloves for tree work). We'll of course give all volunteers a health and safety briefing before starting work.
We'll let you know when we're planning to come to your street so that you all get an opportunity to take part. Our first group session will be on Beckwith Road.
Welcome Burbage
We're glad to say that we've recently recruited five members from Burbage Road, our first from the other side of Half Moon Lane. Good to have you on board.
Donate your garden tap
Have you got a tap in your front garden? Would you be happy if other Tree Watch volunteers used it? It makes the job of watering so much easier if you can fill your watering cans from a nearby tap rather than lugging them backwards and forwards to your own house.
Angus Hanton on Burbage and Jeff Segal from Warmington have already offered their outside taps for Tree Watch volunteers. Let us know if you'd be willing to do that too.
How much water?
The driest May for 124 years has been great for lockdown walks, but some of our new plantings have struggled. There are a couple of photos below of ginkgos on Burbage Road, taken last weekend. The first one is clearly wilting from thirst, while the second, further along the street, shows what a well-watered specimen looks like, with firm or 'turgid' leaves.
We had some pretty spectacular rain last Saturday, June 6th, but young trees actually need a longer, deeper soak. A sudden downpour just encourages shallow rooting, which won't maintain the tree in the long term.
Phil Barwell, Southwark's senior arboricultural officer, recommends we apply 50 litres of a week to a newly established tree in the summer months, starting off with less in spring and winding back down in the autumn. That should be ample to ensure that it gets a successful start in life.
The green Treegator watering bags hold just over 50 litres, so you'll know when to stop pouring. And best of all, they release the water over 5-9 hours so that it gradually percolates into the soil, helping those deep roots develop.
If you want to water a sapling on your street please do it safely and observe social distancing. There's a list of trees that need looking after at the end of this newsletter. But if there are any that you can't rescue and they're in obvious distress then do tell us or report the problem on the council’s website.
Keep your eyes open
It's not just drought that we have to worry about. You should also be alert for damage, disease or any other issue that might harm our trees. On Hollingbourne Road, where the pavements were recently resurfaced, our street leader Angie Craft spotted that a previously healthy Turkish hazel was suddenly wilting.
Angie found that the workers had laid tarmac right up to the stem, not just there but in other places too, so there was no bare soil left to water. We told the council straight away and they're looking at what needs to be done.
Where would you like a new tree?
We're hoping Southwark is going to resume tree planting this winter after it was suspended due to coronavirus. As you know, the council has agreed to fund 20 or so new street trees that we asked for last year, so we're looking forward to seeing them take root. In the meantime, we'd like to hear your suggestions for places where they should go.
The tree section's priority is for somewhere where there once was a tree – in other words, a spot where you can see an empty tree pit or a stump. But you can also propose places which have never seen a tree before.
We've noticed long treeless stretches on Casino Avenue, for example, between nos. 1 and 51, 2 and 28, and 119 and 133. And neither Warmington Road nor Wyneham Road has a single tree along the north side of the street. Have a think about good locations and suitable species and let us know. We'll make sure the council hears our voices.
Maps, trails and talks
If you want to identify the trees on your street a great place to start is the comprehensive digital tree map at TreeTalk, a website created by three Londoners to help people navigate their way through the urban forest.
Centre the map on your location and zoom in until the street names show up. Zoom in even more and you can see your house. Then click on the tree you're interested in and a pop-up will appear which tells you the name, the history and background, and how many of that type there are in London. A green circle means the tree is pretty common, but the colours change the rarer it gets.
You can create your own street tree walk from within that pop-up or click here for more tree trail options. There's a ready-made tree walk on the website taking you from North Dulwich to West Dulwich, but you can customise one for your own neighbourhood.
One of the founders of TreeTalk, the author Paul Wood, is giving a live virtual tour of trees in our sister borough, Lambeth, on Monday 15th June at 7.00pm.
Great trees of Herne Hill
The latest in our series highlighting unusual trees on our streets is a 'baobab plane' – an ordinary London plane (Platanus x acerifolia) that's become massively swollen at the base, like an African baobab tree. This one's not strictly a street tree – it's in the front garden of a house at the corner of Casino Avenue and Red Post Hill – but you can easily see it from the pavement. We've attached a picture below.
Remember, don't go on to the property if you walk over to have a look.
Paul Wood from TreeTalk, who tweets as @TheStreetTree, is a fan of the London baobabs and calls them "bizarre yet lovely", "weirdly squat and deformed". They even have their own Twitter hashtag: baobabplanes. There are other examples near Herne Hill, on Peckham Rye Common and at the Imperial War Museum, but if you want to see some really spectacular baobab planes head over to Ravenscourt Park in west London. Let us know if you've got your own favourite Herne Hill street tree.
Which trees are the thirstiest?
Here's an updated list of the neediest young trees in our neighbourhood that we first published in April. Some of these are already being watered by our volunteers, so why don't you adopt one near you? It'll repay your efforts over many years to come.
BECKWITH ROAD
No. 2 (Wesley Court): London plane (Platanus x acerifolia)
No. 12: London plane (Platanus x acerifolia)
BURBAGE ROAD
No. 6: Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
No. 76: Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
No. 57-59: Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
CASINO AVENUE
No. 7: Broad-leaved cockspur thorn (Crataegus prunifolia)
No. 17: London plane (Platanus x acerifolia)
No. 43: Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
No. 55/57: Cherry
No. 57: Red-leaved cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera Pissardii)
CARVER ROAD
Between no. 1 and Half Moon Lane: Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
No. 15: Birch
DANECROFT ROAD
No. 10: Birch
ELFINDALE ROAD
No. 2: Cherry (Prunus avium)
No. 26: Birch (Betula pubescens)
No. 81/83: Birch
ELMWOOD RD
Between no. 1 and Red Post Hill: Birch
No. 7/9: Birch
Side of no. 20 Wyneham Rd: Birch
No. 54: Birch
No. 58: Birch
FRANKFURT ROAD
No. 3/5: Birch (Betula utilis jacquemontii)
No. 8/10: Birch (Betula utilis jacquemontii)
HALF MOON LANE
No. 70 Half Moon Lane/43 Village Way: Persian silk tree (Albizia julibrissin)
HERNE HILL
No. 79A: London plane (Platanus x acerifolia)
HOLLINGBOURNE ROAD
No. 25/27: Cherry (Prunus avium plena)
No. 45/47: Cherry
No. 52/54: Birch
HOLMDENE AVENUE
No. 49/51: Sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
No. 57/59: Sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua)
RUSKIN WALK
No. 36: Birch
No. 44-46: Cherry (Prunus avium plena)
SUNRAY AVE
No. 16/18: Ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba)
Nos. 49-71 (garden square opposite junction with Casino Avenue): Five young trees including 2 oaks, one lime, others unidentified.
コメント