CityCyclingEdinburgh Forum » General Edinburgh

Trees - good or bad?

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  1. chdot
    Admin

    OK bit of a loaded question - can't be too many people on here who don't like trees.

    There's another one down on the Roseburn Path.

    Some time ago Sustrans advocated a serious bit of felling/pruning there - partly because of the 'autumn leaf problem'.

    One reason that trees fall over is that they have become 'too big' for their root system which is having to deal with the (artificial) embankment (cutting).

    It may well be a good idea to have some selective felling of big trees and 'rationalisation' of smaller ones trying to fight their way to the top of the canopy.

    Obviously decisions should be made taking into account individual trees/species/locations - rather than a 'clear fell and start again' policy.

    Fortunately that is likely to be too expensive, given CEC's resources for what they now seem to be calling Natural Heritage.

    I'm sure 'we' value this mini woodland more than we curse the leaf sludge every year.

    Of course a bit of extra cleanup would help - new Tarmac and some drainage suggest that CEC might be beginning to take more care of its off-road network. What next, proper gritting??

    Posted 12 years ago #

  2. amir
    Member

    I love these green corridors - so relaxing. The trees (when they don't fall over) are good protection against wind as well.

    It would be great if CEC would take the maintainence of these routes more seriously.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  3. SRD
    Moderator

    It took me a ridiculous amount of time (emailing and tweeting) before the trees on leamington walk got trimmed so they didn't bash cyclists in the face. Would be good if that could be made easier.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  4. Min
    Member

    I love the tree lined paths but some sensitive management, thinning out the biggest ones over a number of years and planting new ones would be a good thing.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  5. amir
    Member

    I suspect the big ones are best for wildlife. Given the pressures on wildlife, for me it would be better to keep these if at all possible - these places act as green corridors.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  6. Min
    Member

    They are best. Hence why it needs to be done slowly and sensitively, allowing new trees to take the place of the older ones and then cropping them out once they start becoming a danger. They are already thinning themselves out whenever it gets windy, IMO it would be better to have some control over it.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  7. cb
    Member

    Leaves are a problem when you don't have cars to sweep the surface.

    This is the closed-to-motor-traffic road between Melrose and Newton St Boswells:


    Road closed to cars by ccbb7766, on Flickr

    Posted 12 years ago #

  8. Chimpofdoom
    Member

    Love the tree's, although judging by the above picture.. perhaps evergreens/pine trees wouldn't go a miss (although I'm sure some people would object to the height these things can grow to)!

    Posted 12 years ago #

  9. Min
    Member

    The leaf problem could be alleviated by keeping the paths maintained.

    Hahahahah! Joking!!

    Posted 12 years ago #

  10. lionfish
    Member

    I love the mini-woodlands around Edinburgh. Happy to deal with leaf-sludge/fallen trees if that's the cost of having leafy greenness around :)

    Sitting in uni library now looking out at George Square - in summer the leaves are so thick you can't see the buildings opposite. Today the gates seem to be locked - maybe to stop people going in and sitting under trees that might drop branches?

    off-topic. re gritting: Although I obviously would really like to see off-road cycle paths being gritted, I'm concerned about environmental issues associated. E.g. it might be a bad idea to grit the WoL path, as I assume it'll run off into the river. Similarly with the canal, even though there were 2-3 weeks when it was completely impassible (even on foot).
    How bad is adding salt to the WoL/canal for the fish etc? Is it a negligible effect, or serious?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  11. chdot
    Admin

    "How bad is adding salt to the WoL/canal for the fish etc? Is it a negligible effect, or serious?"

    It's a question worth asking - though clearly much more salt runs off from the roads.

    There is more chance of local damage actually at the sides of paths, but probably relatively small.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  12. Morningsider
    Member

    I wouldn't be too worried about the added effect of gritting the off-road paths. 645,000 tonnes of salt was spread on Scotland's roads during winter 2010/11 with no major adverse environmental impact - a bit more shouldn't have too much effect.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  13. amir
    Member

    The pine trees on the road up from Aviemore to the ski-centre usually look a bit brown on their side facing the road - I have wondered whether that's due to the salt.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  14. amir
    Member

    "They are best. Hence why it needs to be done slowly and sensitively, allowing new trees to take the place of the older ones and then cropping them out once they start becoming a danger. They are already thinning themselves out whenever it gets windy, IMO it would be better to have some control over it. "

    Around us ( a conservation area), trees seem to often be chopped down because they are becoming a "danger". I would just say there is a great danger of sanitising the environment for such reasons, or just to "tidy" the place up. That would be a huge shame. I have held back from complaining about bad surfaces on a cycle path due to root damage because a fear that the council will just come and chop the tree down.

    There must be a happy medium. Old trees are valuable and there needs to be thought as to how they can be preserved rather than rushing into chopping them down.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  15. sallyhinch
    Member

    More could be done to pollard trees (as they do in London with the London Planes which grow enormous left to their own devices). This actually keeps the older trees growing for longer, which is better for wildlife, and it means there isn't such a big sail area for the wind to catch (and fewer leaves too). The UK has masses more veteran trees proportionally than the rest of Europe, partly because of parkland pollards which can live for centuries.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  16. chdot
    Admin

    This was about 5:00


    Tree down

    Interesting that it's not one big tree - a clear case of 'should have been thinned out' as it presumably shows too many small trees fighting for a foothold.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  17. Min
    Member

    Around us ( a conservation area), trees seem to often be chopped down because they are becoming a "danger". I would just say there is a great danger of sanitising the environment for such reasons, or just to "tidy" the place up

    Amir - I think we agree with one another on the importance of the trees. But you don't need to ride round the NEPN after a gale too often to see that the trees are a danger, as opposed to a "danger". I daresay the council would have had them all down by now if anyone important ever used those routes.

    And just to repeat - I do not and would not ever advocate sanitising the area. Just some sensitive management. Old rotten wood could be piled up and would provide a great habitat for animals and mushrooms.

    I am interested by Sallys idea of pollarding. I have seen trees like that in London. They look weird but it keeps the branches small. I wonder what the wildlife count for those trees is compared to unpollarded ones?

    Posted 12 years ago #

  18. chdot
    Admin


    tree surgery

    Posted 12 years ago #

  19. sallyhinch
    Member

    Here's something on some ancient pollards http://www.dendrology.org/site/images/web4events/pdf/Tree%20info%20IDS_06_pp65_p67_Burnham.pdf (not street trees, though)

    Posted 12 years ago #

  20. Kirst
    Member

    I like trees much more than I like most people.

    Posted 12 years ago #

  21. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/02/a-uk-tree-provides-hundreds-of-pounds-of-benefits-a-year-report-finds

    Posted 1 year ago #

  22. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/06/sheffield-city-council-behaved-dishonestly-in-street-trees-row-inquiry-finds

    Posted 1 year ago #

  23. gembo
    Member

    Trees are usually good
    But not the ones in HR PuffnStuff they are bad

    Posted 1 year ago #

  24. paddyirish
    Member

    An example where uncontrolled forestry ain't good

    Posted 1 year ago #

  25. jss
    Member

    Love trees sometimes more than people too - never been scammed or knocked off my bike by a tree
    But apart from being good and beautiful in themselves ,I wonder how much of a solution to CO2 emissions they can be
    I have read the average tree will absorb 1000 kg of CO2 over a hundred year life span
    So that is 10 kg per annum
    Average uk household produces 10,000 kg of CO2 per annum
    30 million households in uk
    The complete maths is a bit beyond me but a helluva lot of trees needed to absorb the 300,000,000 tons of CO2 each year..?.
    How many trees would need to be planted each and every year to make significant impact on this and would there be space to do so
    And when these trees die or are felled ,all the co2 they have absorbed is slowly released back into the atmosphere again
    I am getting a bit lost in the woods trying to find he correct path through all this

    Posted 1 year ago #

  26. gembo
    Member

    Tree roots on canal path are quite annoying on the canal tow path near the cop shop of Wester Hailes. But still love trees

    Posted 1 year ago #

  27. chdot
    Admin

    “

    Give old trees same protection as heritage buildings, say campaigners

    Destruction of more than 100 trees in Plymouth highlights weakness of protections, says Woodland Trust

    …

    The Plymouth development is part funded by £2.7m from the Department of Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund for walking and cycling fund.

    ”

    https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/16/protect-old-trees-destruction-plymouth-woodland-trust

    Posted 1 year ago #

  28. chdot
    Admin

    https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/23/plymouth-council-leader-quits-after-approving-110-trees-being-cut-down

    Posted 1 year ago #

  29. Arellcat
    Moderator

    Someone ought to tell Midlothian Council. The housebuilding around Roslin has seen many good trees felled.

    Posted 1 year ago #

  30. chdot
    Admin

    “

    The felling of a number of ancient trees has been paused until the planned removal is explained to protestors.

    More than 50 lime trees were approved to be cut down to make way for a dual carriageway as part of the Stanton Cross development, in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire.

    “

    https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cxx75w97pe6o

    Posted 1 year ago #

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