Trees, like people, die for any number of reasons but old age is the obvious one. 'Old' can mean just a few decades for small trees, but centuries for bigger ones. Young or old, storm damage can knock them over or tear off limbs, while fungal decay or some other pathogen can overwhelm them almost undetected. Meanwhile incurable diseases like ash dieback and Dutch elm disease lay waste to entire woodlands.
In the cities, arborists can fell apparently healthy trees to avert a danger to pedestrians and property, and insurance claims for subsidence can insist an offending tree must go. There are even more hazards for urban trees from hostile planting conditions, pollution, vehicle strikes and of course building works.
At Herne Hill Tree Watch we're very proud of our record for planting trees, but unless a sapling dies from obvious neglect we don't often think about the death rate. This year, though, we seem to have the highest number of losses - 27 - that we've seen since we started up. Southwark Council is committed to replacing every dead tree, but it will take many years before a newcomer can grow a leaf canopy thick enough to match its predecessor.
A quick count reveals that half the current losses are birch, cherries and cherry plums. That's not to suggest that these species are particularly vulnerable; it may just be because they're among the most frequently planted street trees in our area. There are three sweet gums on the list too - again, a common tree here. The numerous chanticleer pears (Pyrus calleryana 'Chanticleer') have come through the year unscathed, though. Let's take a closer look at the recent victims. You can also see them listed street-by-street in a newly published table on our website.
Birch (seven lost trees)
Beckwith Road has suffered more losses of silver birch (Betula pendula) than any other street. Two tall, mature birches, originally interplanted among the big London planes, came down in the autumn, at nos. 28 and 44-46, and will be replaced like-for-like, although they're not on the planting schedule for winter 2024/25. A third silver birch, over the road at 35, was removed in May 2023 because of decay, and the pit is due to be replanted with a Yoshino cherry (Prunus x yedoensis) this season, a tree requested by residents.
Britain's native silver birches grow fast, often on poor soils, and are early colonisers of empty land, but they aren't long-lived in any habitat. Another silver birch was felled at 11-13 Frankfurt Road in autumn last year and the site hasn't been replanted yet. The stump was taken away in January 2024 but a few weeks ago the pit was 'capped' - covered in tarmac. We've asked the tree officers for clarification of their plans.
And a fifth silver birch was lost from 18-20 Stradella Road during the summer, one of three trees gone from the same short stretch of Stradella in the past 12 months or so. Sadly, none of them are due to be replaced for another year.
In many streets the pure white-barked Himalayan birches (Betula utilis jacquemontii) now outnumber their less sparkling silver cousins. Most of these relative youngsters are thriving, but we've had two losses recently. On Elfindale Road, the jacquemontii at no. 34 (pictured below left) was removed because a limb had split and left a cavity. Big holes in trees will get waterlogged and fungi will thrive in them, weakening the whole tree. This birch is due to be replaced in the current planting season by a late-flowering crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica).
The final lost birch, another jacquemontii, stood until a few months ago at the top of Ruskin Walk, on the even-numbered side, the second tree down from the postbox. It was doing well until early June when its newly emerged leaves suddenly died (below right). Two other unrelated young trees suffered exactly the same fate this summer, a cherry on Burbage Road and a hornbeam on Stradella. The Ruskin tree is listed for replacement by another birch in 2024/25.
Cherries and cherry plums (six lost trees)
Four cherries and two cherry plums are also missing from our streetscape. Two of the cherries were the very popular Kanzans (Prunus 'Kanzan'), which bear enormous pom-poms of pink double flowers in early April. They grow a very fat trunk of polished brown bark as they age, like the old one that grew uphill from 2 Hollingbourne Road until January 2024. We're waiting for a decision on a replacement, and in the meantime foxes have been digging in the vacant pit.
The Hollingbourne Kanzan had mushroom-like growths at the base of the trunk, known as the 'fruiting bodies' of a fungus. The fungus itself develops as a network of threads in
the soil, the 'mycelium', which migrates into the tree to feed on decaying wood. Every year or so the mycelium will produce a fruit on the outside of the tree and the spores in the fruit - the fungal equivalent of seeds - will disperse to grow elsewhere. By the time the fruiting body appears the tree could be riddled with disease and it could be too late to save it.
Another Kanzan cherry, much younger than the Hollingbourne tree, died suddenly this July at 110 Burbage Road and was felled a couple of months later. Like the Himalayan birch on Ruskin it grew a healthy canopy of leaves before unexpectedly perishing in the middle of summer. We're expecting a new ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba) in its place, but not until 2025/26.
The third cherry to come down this year was a very handsome but diseased native wild cherry, tucked away on a lawn behind the Carterscroft flats at the bottom of Red Post Hill. Felled in the autumn, it's scheduled to be replaced this winter with a Pride of India (Koelreuteria paniculata), a fascinating and drought-tolerant tree that produces brilliantly coloured seed capsules that hang for months. You can see in the right-hand photo the prominent rings that distinguish most cherries. They're 'lenticels', pores that allow gases to pass into and out of the tree.
The fourth cherry removed in 2024 was a Tibetan cherry (Prunus serrula tibetica) that was planted in May 2022 on the grass opposite 44-45 Delawyk Crescent. It was dead within a year, probably from lack of regular watering, but was only removed in summer 2024. The council is trying again with another Tibetan cherry and we hope that this time it will flourish. The shining red-brown bark of this exotic tree is a remarkable sight.
The once plentiful cherry plums (Prunus cerasifera) of Herne Hill have been much reduced in number over the last few years and we lost two more in 2024. One, a fine old purple-leaved cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera 'Pissardii'), was outside 19 Beckwith, the fourth recent casualty on the same road. A white-flowering variety, it had repeatedly
produced bracket fungi, big fruiting bodies with scalloped edges, and was taken down in the autumn. The council is planning another blossom tree at this spot, but it's unclear when.
The pavement outside 68 Elfindale was home to another mature cherry plum, also a white-flowering 'Pissardii', until 2023, when it too was felled. It was briefly replaced by a 'Sunset Boulevard' cherry but that one got taken away in March this year to fill a pit somewhere else. We've been promised a black cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera 'Nigra') for no. 68 this season, a variety with pink blossom instead of white. These cherry plums come into flower in February and are always the first trees in Herne Hill to bloom. That makes them very popular - as long as they stay alive. Fingers crossed.
American sweet gums (three lost trees)
Our many sweet gums (Liquidambar styraciflua) are renowned for the brilliant autumn colours of their maple-like five-fingered leaves. They're normally very resilient but we've lost three in Herne Hill. The oldest and biggest, at 45 Half Moon Lane, was fatally injured in a storm three years ago that tore off two big limbs. It was felled in September 2021 and the large pit was capped in February last year, but we're told it's going to be reopened for a new tree in this planting season.
A small sweet gum stands dead at the side of the perimeter road on the Delawyk estate, opposite house no. 85, surrounded by a little clump of self-seeded false acacias (Robinia pseudoacacia), possibly from the neighbouring grounds of Judith Kerr School. This tree too is going to be replaced shortly, although we don't know with what.
A short distance away, outside the Dulwich Mead flats on Half Moon Lane, there's been another sudden tree death, this time a tall and slender sweet gum that was just changing into its autumn colours. The official Southwark map suggests the replacement might be a silver lime (Tilia tomentosa), but that's not confirmed. You'll see the dead sweet gum if you're waiting for a bus to Brixton at the Ruskin Walk stop. It's just a few yards (metres) from the bench.
Apples and pears (two lost trees)
Here's another victim of bracket fungus, a John Downie crab apple (Malus 'John Downie') at 62 Burbage, one of two within a short distance. This lovely little tree favoured us with very pretty white blossom in spring and gleaming red and yellow fruit in late summer, but was chopped down this autumn.
Meanwhile one of three infant pear trees planted in the grassy square on Casino Avenue in February 2023 died within six months. It was a one-year-old Durondeau pear (Pyrus communis 'Durondeau') but all you can see of it now is a mop of bindweed covering its cage in the corner of the square near 96 Casino. We're promised a replacement dwarf pear tree this coming winter. If you're in the area, have a look at the rapidly growing ginkgo that's regenerated in the square from the stump next to the little pears. It's not the geometric shape of a regular ginkgo, but instead has multiple near-vertical shoots. Foresters traditionally cut mature woodland trees like hazel and beech down almost to ground level, a process called 'coppicing'. The 'stool' or low stump then regrows quickly like the gingko and the useful wooden poles are harvested every few years.
Indian bean tree (one lost tree)
We have - or had - three beautiful bean trees (Catalpa bignonioides) in Herne Hill, among them a huge one in the top cul-de-sac Casino and a medium-sized specimen next to St Faith's hall at the bottom of Sunray Avenue. They're famous for their huge bright green leaves, their summer flowers and the long seed pods that hang from their branches in autumn and winter. But the third bean tree, a yellow-leaved type called Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea', was knocked over by high winds on June 16 after only three years in the lower Casino cul-de-sac. It's on the planting list for this year, with an identical replacement.
Chinese privet (one lost tree)
Another nearby victim of this year's storms was the young Chinese privet (Ligustrum lucidum) at 27 Herne Hill, where Casino meets the main road. Planted just four years ago, it fell during Storm Isha on the night of January 21. It's scheduled for replacement this year with another privet, but the tree pit was capped in the autumn so we're not certain about the current plan.
These evergreen Chinese privets haven't done terribly well in Herne Hill. There were three large specimens on Milkwood Road, on the narrow pavement behind Pizza Express, but only one live tree remains. One is is stone dead and leafless, while the other was recently replaced by a native common hornbeam (Carpinus betulus). It's a difficult location, so we'll have to wait and see if the hornbeam does well. We also had two Chinese privets outside Bessemer Grange school on Nairne Grove, but again one of them died a few years ago.
Small-leaved lime (one lost tree)
This native lime (Tilia cordata) lived halfway up Red Post Hill on the grassy crescent outside no. 79. About eight years ago it was severely pollarded, meaning its limbs were lopped off to reduce its height and width. But it only lasted until July or August 2024, when it was felled - why, we don't know. It's due for replacement in the next few months. The cordata in the name means 'heart-shaped' in Latin, referring to the small leaves. You can see some of them in the picture of the stump.
Hybrid cockspur thorn (one lost tree)
It was a real shame when Storm Henk on January 2 brought down the fine Crataegus x lavallei outside 16-18 Stradella - one of only two of these unusual hawthorns in the neighbourhood. We wrote about its orange-red fruit, its thorns and its sinuous tracery of branches in winter 2023/24 and covered the surviving lavallei on Hollingbourne in last month's blog about berries. Let's hope the Stradella tree is replaced with another of the same.
Grey alder (one lost tree)
The loss of this twin-stemmed grey alder at 44 Stradella meant there's now a short length of road with three gaps - this one, 16-18 (the former hawthorn) and 18-20 (the felled silver birch). Sadly, the council doesn't intend to fill any of them until 2025/26. Alders are members of the birch family and like all birches they're 'monoecious', meaning they bear male and female flowers on the same tree. We took the central and right-hand pictures in late October 2020, a time of year when you can see both at the same time. The pretty pink and yellow catkins are the males, while the little black cones are the females. They start green, but once pollinated by the males they gradually darken and eventually open up to release their seeds. There's a very large Italian alder (Alnus cordata) a few houses away at 20 Stradella and you're very likely to see native alders (Alnus glutinosa) if you take a walk along rural riverbanks in Britain.
Common hornbeam (one lost tree)
Stradella unfortunately seems to have suffered yet another loss: the charming fastigiate (upright) native hornbeam (Carpinus betulus 'Fastigiata') around the corner, where the road meets Burbage. You'll find it opposite no. 105. It was only planted in July 2022 and appeared to be doing well until this summer, when its green crown suddenly turned brown - just like the Kanzan cherry on Burbage, the Himalayan birch on Ruskin and the sweet gum on Half Moon Lane. Perhaps an arborist might be able to explain these sudden deaths. So far the council hasn't got a plan for the Stradella hornbeam and we'll keep an eye on it in case fresh buds develop over the winter.
Northern red oak (one lost tree)
This little North American oak (Quercus rubra) only lasted a year on the Hillcrest estate at the top of Sunray Avenue where it still stands, quite dead, alongside the stump of one of its predecessors. It's actually the third red oak to have been planted on this grassy bank opposite 2-4 Sunray and arrived in March 2023 to take over from a very big one that had only recently been felled. The newcomer never looked happy, although a neighbouring chestnut-leaved oak (Quercus castaneifolia) put in at the
same time is thankfully doing fine.
There's a replacement for the lost red oak scheduled for the current planting season.
Heaven Scent magnolia (one lost tree)
Elsewhere in the Hillcrest grounds we lost a young Magnolia 'Heaven Scent', a variety known for its sweet-smelling flowers. It's in a pretty remote corner, the last but one tree along a concrete wall that winds downhill at the back of the estate. Two other 'Heaven Scent' magnolias were planted at Hillcrest at the same time, closer to the flats, and they're doing OK. There are another nine from the same batch along Casino Avenue, all of them planted in 2022/23. Southwark plans to replace the loss this winter.
Elmwood (one lost tree)
Finally, there's evidence of a lost tree outside 26 Elmwood Road. In January this year a new pit was dug there to make up for the historic loss but it was capped in error a month later. It's only scheduled to be planted up in 2025/26.
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