Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Trees in urban gardens
As a general rule, trees are a good thing and it is easy to understand why there is plenty of support for planting as many as possible and preserving what we have. On the other hand, there are plenty of circumstances when a particular tree or a group of trees is very far from a good thing. Because trees come in such a wide range of species and sizes, it behoves tree owners to be careful in their choice of which trees to plant or to conserve.
Moreover, it is important to realise that not all trees that we have in Harringay were planted by some human agency. Walking in ladder streets I often see ash or sycamore trees that plainly began as seedlings growing in cracks by walls. In my view, any house owner would be wise to have those things out as soon as they appear. If the roots won’t come out, then cut them flush with the ground and poison the stump with glyphosate. It’s no good dreaming that they will grow into a beautiful asset.
In the 1990s I was living abroad and a gardening company looked after my garden while I was away. After a tree blew down in a gale, the gardener suggested a replacement. What about a tulip tree he asked. In my ignorance (thinking that perhaps he meant a magnolia) I agreed. When 15 years later, I finally returned, the tulip tree was already 30 feet tall and I finally did some research – in fact the research was made easier by the fact that my wife’s uncle in Pennsylvania had a tulip tree growing by his typical wooden house. The trunk was at least three feet in diameter and it soared far above the surrounding tree canopy. According to Wikipedia, this tree is a native of Appalachia where it can grow over 150 feet tall. Obviously, this is completely inappropriate in an urban garden however large it might be. My gardener clearly was as inexperienced as I was. That tree had to go and I quickly got rid of it.
It is not just tulip trees that are wrong for urban gardens. The aforementioned ash and sycamore can also grow so big that they can completely fill a typical ladder garden and overshadow neighbouring gardens. The picture below shows a beautifully shaped sycamore which would be an asset on Hadrian’s Wall. In fact it is in a tiny garden of about 60 square metres. The tree canopy itself is larger than that so it dominates both its own location and two or three gardens to its north. As it happens, this is not a problem for me but I should not wish to have a neighbour to my south who allowed such a tree to become established.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Gordon T on
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Buddleia in urban locations too - particularly when rooted in masonry - very damaging and quick-growing.
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Permalink Reply by Mavic Starfish on
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Agree with all of this Dick. I’ve chosen native varieties, and trees of appropriate size for an urban garden. Surrounded by sycamores from bordering buildings so judicious pruning of branches that overhang my garden border has kept them from completely overshadowing my garden. Every spring I’m hunting down any seedlings- the little buggers get anywhere and everywhere
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I'm sorry. I do not mean any offence, but, please, refrain from advising people to use glyphosate in their gardens.
There are many ecologically friendly ways to deal with your gardens without risking your family, pets and plant’s health with such a poisonous substance. It would keep poisoning you for years (after using it).I have some severe health conditions due to the intensive use of such pesticides (where I used to live before moving to England). Please, never use it. You can love and take care of nature at your doorstep in unnumbered, affordable, and sustainable ways without risking your health on a daily base.
Glyphosate was such a scandal a few years ago that Monsanto was the first big company to sue Google for the so-called “right to be forgotten online.” Nowadays, it is probably barely possible to find all the details of its poisonous effects on any living creature online. It is still around due to commercial blackmailing, but it is the worst choice possible and is forbidden in most European countries.Maybe you can find more info here: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9101768/
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Permalink Reply by Dick Harris on
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I am sorry to hear of your health problems Sabrina and I should gladly contribute to a thread about glyphosate if you would care to start one.
As this thread is about trees, I prefer not to do so here and would suggest that my post be read as though the word glyphosate were replaced by "a suitable poison".
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