We've had some very welcome rain this week after a long period of warm, dry weather, but watering vulnerable young trees remains our focus while the lockdown continues. In the meantime, here's some other news from the streets.
New tree
First, an unexpected new tree. After hearing from Southwark council that they'd suspended all planting, one day in mid-April up popped an oak tree at the junction of Elmwood Road, Beckwith Road and Half Moon Lane. That's the spot that used to be occupied by a short-lived handkerchief tree (Davidia involucrata).
The newcomer is a fastigiate (columnar) English oak, or Quercus robur Fastigiata Koster. It's also known as a cypress oak and can potentially reach 20 metres high, although the narrow form means it shouldn’t outgrow its space.
There are two more of these youngsters outside Dulwich Park, in the grass verge next to College Gate, and a mature specimen inside the park, along the boundary road near the stream that feeds into the lake.
Normally Southwark will only plant native trees like the English oak in woodlands, but this is an exception. Urban streets are generally considered unsuitable for natives because the environment is so different from their natural habitat and because temperatures in city centres are significantly higher than in surrounding areas.
Trees lost this year
Sadly quite a few of our street trees have been lost since the end of last year. We've spotted
two plums felled on Carver Road (outside no. 13 and no. 53)
another plum at 65 Danecroft Road, brought down in a storm
a dead hawthorn taken down outside 19 Frankfurt Road
two trees felled on Half Moon Lane: a birch (no. 29) and a plane (no. 37)
a photinia at 51 Hollingbourne Road, which also came down in the February storms
a dead laburnum on Red Post Hill, one of a pair on the grass verge outside Sunray Gardens
a dead hawthorn at 19 Elfindale Road
a large tree pit outside 111 Sunray Avenue, near St Faith's church hall – presumably a London plane
and just outside our patch, at 11 Crossthwaite Avenue, a hawthorn in poor condition that's scheduled to be felled shortly.
The council is obliged to replace all of these losses.
Bessemer Grange nature garden
A number of you objected last month to a planning application to fell four large poplars and eight smaller ash trees and field maples in the Nature Garden at Bessemer Grange school on Nairne Grove after a neighbouring property experienced structural damage. There were 19 objections altogether and no comments in support, and the council finally decided on an amended scheme.
Instead of being chopped down, the poplars will be reduced in size by up to 30%, while the eight smaller trees will be coppiced – cut at just above ground level - and allowed to regenerate. Larger branches from the tree work will be buried to provide soil nutrients and lock in carbon, and chipped branches will be used as mulch.
Blossom report
There are still some street trees that you'll see blooming in May. One is the extraordinary Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum), with its deep pink pea-like flowers, some of which grow directly on the trunk. There's a gorgeous young specimen in Sunray Gardens, near the gate at the corner of Elmwood Road and Red Post Hill, and a bigger one in a front garden on Burbage Road between the railway bridge and Turney Road.
Much more frequent but almost as lovely is our native common hawthorn (Crataegus monogyna), which right now is decked out in sweet-smelling white blossom. The best display locally is down by the railway track at the far end of Belair Park, Gallery Road.
You'll find some more nice hawthorns on the upper section of Greendale and along Ruskin Walk, which also has a couple of Paul's Scarlet, the red-flowered variety of Britain's second native thorn, the Midland hawthorn (Crataegus laevigata). You can read more about hawthorns on the Woodland Trust website.
Great trees of Herne Hill
We thought it might be an idea to start highlighting some unusual trees on our streets, so here's this month's offering: an evergreen cork oak (Quercus suber). It's right outside the school gate at Bessemer Grange, a long way from its native habitat of southwest Europe and northwest Africa.
In Portugal in particular, wide rings of its bark are stripped every few years to make stoppers for wine bottles. If you did that on any other tree it would die, but amazingly the cork oak bark can regrow. There's a picture of the unique bark of our cork oak below.
Let us know if you've got any favourite street trees you'd like us to feature.
Post-lockdown activities
We're starting to think about other activities we might organise once the lockdown is over, besides the minor maintenance tasks that we're unable to do at present. One will be getting together with neighbours to talk about new trees that you'd like on your street. We've got funding for up to 20 or so trees from the council and we'll need you to suggest what species you'd prefer and where.
Another thing we could organise is tree walks along our local streets, where we can try to identify and chat about what we see. A further possibility might be producing name tags for trees we can recognise and hanging them up.
More ambitiously, we could ask the council if our volunteers could learn about and take part in planting new trees. There's a very active group in Lewisham, Street Trees for Living, which does just that.
Watering
If you spot any trees in obvious distress please report them on the council’s website.
And if you want to water a newly planted tree on your street please remember to do it safely and strictly observe the government instructions on leaving the house, social distancing and permitted forms of outdoor exercise.
The green watering bags can be a bit tricky to work out at the start, but once you've located the slot below the two handles you should be OK. Use a watering can or a hose in the slot if you've got one; a bucket is more difficult. If you pour water down the opening at the top of the bag by mistake most of it will flood out on to the pavement.
Treegator, the company that makes the green bags, has advice online showing how to use them and how often to water. Barcham’s, the nursery which supplies many of the council’s trees, also has watering advice on its website.
We put a list of young trees that might need watering in last month's update, but we can send you a copy if you need one.
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