Palm tree

[Sue]

Muttley Wrote:

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> Is it just me, or is our new friend the palm tree

> looking a little bit unwell - leaf tips turning

> brown, and what looks like a dead branch. Maybe

> it's the lack of sunshine. Is there a tree doctor

> in the house?

xxxxxx

No it's not just you,I've been noticing it for a while. It's been getting gradually worse.

Maybe it's just adapting to its new situation, but my suspicion is it's not actually suited to that situation.

I meant to look it up - the brown tips could be windburn.

They've possibly planted something they think will be suited to the ED climate in fifty years' time, without considering the shorter term - but who knows.

:-S

[Louisa]

AcedOut, how about we dont do that. I am more than happy with a statue of me surveying the view of the new Louisa friendly ED.

Louisa.

[????]

It's a bit like flares and lime green doors...very 'of the moment' but will look crap in a few years.......

[macroban]

If you have questions the project manager is/was [email protected]

The "tree" installed is nothing like the one illustrated on the public consultation document. Funny, that.

[Sue]

What was the tree on the public consultation document, macroban?

I can't remember (though I'm sure I would have commented on it in my response if it had been a palm tree!)

[macroban]

The Southwark Council (magenta background) leaflet/voting form for the public consultation that ended on 22 June 2007 had mock-up photos of the four proposals. Proposal 1. was a "Feature Tree". The photo shows a broad-leafed deciduous tree with regular trunk and branches. I don't know enough about trees to identify the species.

Anyone who voted for the "winning" Proposal 1. didn't get what they voted for.

I would estimate that the all in cost of buying a semi-mature deciduous sapling, digging the hole, transporting the sapling, planting it, and any charge for project management would be of the order of ?2000 or less.

Does anyone want to make a FoI request for the actual cost?

[Brendan]

I?m not sure of this but I have a suspicion that they probably intended to put a deciduous tree of some kind there but hadn?t thought it through properly. The location is close to the road and there is a sewer beneath it so they may have been advised (by whoever advises on these things) that a tree with a large root system could cause damage. Palm trees have a very shallow root system which is why they are often planted in cities. Not British cities admittedly but cities none the less.

Personally I quite liked the flower bed.

[macroban]

I see.

I guess being next to the East Dulwich Tavern it must be a large sewer.

[Louisa]

I agree the flower bed was lovely, it would have been nice to have kept a variety of flowers instead of a foreign tree which looks out of place.

Louisa.

[Brendan]

Bloody foreigners.

[AcedOut]

Burn tree, burn ;)

[tropica]

macroban Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> The Southwark Council (magenta background)

> leaflet/voting form for the public consultation

> that ended on 22 June 2007 had mock-up photos of

> the four proposals. Proposal 1. was a "Feature

> Tree". The photo shows a broad-leafed deciduous

> tree with regular trunk and branches. I don't know

> enough about trees to identify the species.

>

> Anyone who voted for the "winning" Proposal 1.

> didn't get what they voted for.

>

> I would estimate that the all in cost of buying a

> semi-mature deciduous sapling, digging the hole,

> transporting the sapling, planting it, and any

> charge for project management would be of the

> order of ?2000 or less.

>

> Does anyone want to make a FoI request for the

> actual cost?

Just in case anyone doesn't know, the original suggestion for a tree in the middle of the roundabout (July 2006 proposal for a Community Grant, Dulwich Community meeting) was for a palm tree, exactly like the one we've finally got. I and a number of others were really annoyed when the consultation document came out (I'm sure it wasn't a picture of a deciduous tree - it looked more like a house plant). In an earlier post (RE:Roundabout at Goose Green,24/05/2007 - sorry I don't know how to do the link) I suggested that anyone who wanted to vote, wrote Palm tree (or Monkey Puzzle) next to the word tree. I think quite a few people did.

There were a lot of worries that a 'normal' tree would obscure the view for buses - I'm not sure that was justified- but it was discussed.

The current brown tips will be because the ends of the leaves were cut for ease of transport - once the tree has settled in, new leaves won't have that problem.

Yes, a deciduous tree would be cheaper in the short term, but not over time - palm trees need very little maintenance, whereas deciduous trees cause a headache to the street cleaners in the autumn, and regular pruning to keep the neat shape you'd need for a specimen tree in the middle of the roundabout.

The justification for a palm tree was that a large percentage of the housing in this area is Victorian, and a visit to the Horniman museum will soon show how popular the introduction of this tree would have been at the time the housing was being constructed.

Sorry that not everyone likes it, but it would be a very boring world if we were all the same.

I'm just glad the Council didn't get the chance to choose a statue.....

[VeryBerryCherry]

I love our palm tree. Our little oasis in East D... in the heart of a concrete roundabout.

However, if it is feeling a little left out in our "welcoming" community, it is more than welcome at my bar's Hawaiian Weekend. We'll all be there in swishey skirts and fake flower galas.

[AcedOut]

I'm just waiting for the delivery of sand (and a sprinkling of sun rays). Maybe we could then construct an underpass, dig up the surrounding road and fill with water. Our own little ED Caribbean island!

[Sue]

Thanks for the explanation Tropica, I feel a bit better about the palm now :)

And at least we didn't get council-chosen sculpture ......

[Rabbler]

Well if there had been a statue one of Edgar Kail would have been perfect, he used to live just off the roundabout too.

But then I am a Dulwich Hamlet fan, so may be a tad biased! ;-)

[ianr]

Rabbler Wrote:

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> Well if there had been a statue one of Edgar Kail

> would have been perfect, he used to live just off

> the roundabout too.

Enid Blyton (ED-born) would be better known. For that matter, so would Noddy and Big Ears.

[kevbeachy]

About time the council spent some money on tidying up the scruff!

[Huguenot]

Was back only briefly last week, but I reckoned the palm tree looked great.

Great explanation Tropica, and spot on in terms of the period feel. Those fabulous Victorians weren't all just workhouses and top hats. They were extremely woooo.

I'm betting Tropica that you'd know how much the project cost....? I'm guessing that the installation probably cost less than 10k, but I've also got a tenner that says the consultation cost 50k?

[tropica]

Huguenot Wrote:

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> Was back only briefly last week, but I reckoned

> the palm tree looked great.

>

> Great explanation Tropica, and spot on in terms of

> the period feel. Those fabulous Victorians weren't

> all just workhouses and top hats. They were

> extremely woooo.

>

> I'm betting Tropica that you'd know how much the

> project cost....? I'm guessing that the

> installation probably cost less than 10k, but I've

> also got a tenner that says the consultation cost

> 50k?

Well, the grant awarded in November 2006 was for a total of ?8,000.00 which was to include public consultation and supply and installation of the tree (or other object if the public voted for something else). I seem to remember that removal of the redundant broken lighting column and the associated concrete base was to be done by the highways department, and not costed to the project.

I don't know what the project came in at (you could try emailing [email protected]), but rough costings at the time suggested that ?8K was a generous budget.

Hope that helps

[giggirl]

It's a fabulous tree. What's not to like? Embrace it and move on.

[????]

"It's a fabulous tree. What's not to like? Embrace it and move on"

TREEHUGGER