Stop the Chop

One of the best things about our garden is the view of two ancient oaks in the vicarage garden next door. There are now few people who can remember the time  when our street was still farmland.  But these great trees bear witness.
They creak irritably and toss down twigs, but they are home to innumerable birds, insects, lichens and fungi.

Yet if they were out on the street, they would certainly have been chopped down as it is cheaper for the council to do that than to keep them pruned and in good order.

St Albans Council has decided to fell 300 trees (reduced to 250 after a complaint).
They claim some are diseased. Others merely 'in decline'. At sixty, what am I then?  In decline? Perhaps I too should be culled to cut costs to the NHS.

Even more shocking is the fact that these trees are being felled during the nesting season.
On Saturday we visited the condemned trees closest to us in order to make a peaceful protest and in each was at least one active nest. When the tree falls, the chicks will die.

Interestingly, when we stood round the stumps of two cherry trees which had been sawn down while in full blossom (one scheduled, the other taken down on a whim), nearby householders came out, angry at us 'tree huggers'. The trees had apparently been ruining their lives by shedding leaves and petals which blew onto their tidy drives. They were glad they were gone.

As they yelled at us, merely for taking photos of the stumps, they used the f word a lot, even though we had young children with us. It is no exaggeration to say their reaction was violent.  But it was odd since the trees were already felled and no protest on our part could possibly reinstate them.

Perhaps then, their fury might even have been a cause for hope - maybe deep down they were experiencing unease, realising that the unruly branches of a tree are more beautiful than the sterile tidiness they longed for.

What I wish for is that others can realise this BEFORE any more trees are chopped down.

The passing of the cherry buds

On my morning yomp around my neighbourhood, I’ve noted the trees which have been blown down by storms Dudley and Eunice.

There are two separate places where cherry trees have been uprooted.  What struck me most was the fact that they were packed with multitudes of rosy buds.  Until the storm, they had been preparing to burst forth in their full glory in the spring.  Even as the trunks lay beyond salvage, half across the pavement, the buds were still undamaged and ready to blossom.  Those cherry trees had not known that they were about to be felled by the wind.

A couple of days ago, we heard that Nigel’s much-loved uncle had died very suddenly.  He was still active in life in so many wonderful ways.  He had shown no signs of approaching his end.

I guess the people who will be missed most are those who had more blooms to offer.  So we all must put out our buds in hope each year and if we are spared to see them flower and fruit, we should give thanks.

 

Photo by Arno Smit on Unsplash

Birthday with Trees

 There have a lot of trees in my life this year. 

Just before Lockdown, Perran and I visited ‘Among the Trees’, an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery.

Twice this year, we’ve done the tree trail in our local park, and my tree identification has got much sharper.

I’ve read:

Ghost Trees by Bob Gilbert

The Hidden Life of Trees by Peter Woehlleben

Wildwood by Richard Deakin

The Overstory by Richard Powers

I’ve produced reviews on books about trees both for Radio Verulam and for the St Albans Podcast.

And I’ve written a short story for WRITERSREBEL – Tree Girl.

So I didn’t mind at all when we decided to keep my birthday celebrations outdoors and visited the brightly coloured Autumn trees of Kew Gardens.  What could be nicer!

And as the evenings draw in, I am looking forward to the October finale as the trees around me turn to gold and bronze and I think I shall read ‘The sixteen trees of the Somme’ by Lars Mytting (passed on to me recently by my neighbour Alex).

 

Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill – please help your planet

Please follow the links below (which will take you swiftly and easily through to your MP’s email) and ask your MP to support the Climate and Ecological Emergency Bill which will be debated during this session of Parliament.