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Storm Damage

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  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783

    Lizzie27 said:
    Goodness me, @JoeX, that's serious stuff. 

    At least it looks like the council will be footing the bill for it's removal.

    I was waiting anxiously for one of the very old, tall birches just outside our house to fall on us but fortunately it didn't.
    Local councillor came down to look but we still don’t know when the council will do something so we’ve cut up most of it ourselves.

    Hoping the trees either side haven’t been weakened as we’ve more strong winds to come.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    edited February 2022

    That is a great concern, weakened trees and further strong winds to come - we don't know if more will come down. Many parks in North London are still shut. 50 mph gusts still forecast.
  • JoeXJoeX Posts: 1,783
    I was due to race at Knole Park but they’ve closed for the same reason.

    We’ve got a lot of street trees in our area, part of what makes it a nice place to live, but apparently we’ve got around a hundred down.

    It raises a few gardening related questions to mind;

    What happens when the roots of this old tree start to rot, the front gardens, drives and houses?

    Is there a better way to maintain these trees, keeping their height below that which might crush the house if they topple?

    What do they replace them with once down?
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Its still ridiculously windy here.
  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 12,585
    It seems windier here (Glos) than it did on Friday, but that might be because it got up overnight. I could hear the roof tiles rattling overhead and various bumps and rattles.

    @JoeX, l can't see the powers that be replacing the fallen trees with new ones, l envisage the health and safety people saying it's just too risky having large trees in a suburban setting.
  • FireFire Posts: 19,096
    JoeX said:

    Is there a better way to maintain these trees, keeping their height below that which might crush the house if they topple?

    What do they replace them with once down?

    @JoeX Our street trees are pollarded every two years to restrict height and associated root problems. Trees (planes) are often coming out now because of subsidence claims against the council. Planes are generally replaced with smaller (more dwarfed) varieties of  silver birch and ornamental cherries. They seem a better choice now for modern living. Our planes were planted around 1905 (pre-cars and pre-widespread litigation society). They have a lot of lower shoots by May that block the roadway and the pavement. The annual leaf fall of around 100 trees per street is pretty huge - the mulch clogging drains.

    Push the council to replant if they don't seem to be making a plan. Those new trees do need lots of watering for the first few years - neighbours can help with that. We lose a lot of new trees here to thirst.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    Apparently a tree came down in the next road, just missed the house. My granddaughters school closed, thankfully. A tree came down across the road fairly near it. The storm 1987,was the only time I was beaten trying to get to work. Every road I tried out of Crawley where we lived then was blocked by ruddy great oak trees. It was 6.30am,but the clearing up took weeks. They did get the A 23/M23 cleared so I only missed the one shift.
  • Nanny BeachNanny Beach Posts: 8,719
    My oldest daughter in Tunbridge Wells lost all fences.
  • In other news on Friday there was a council worker spotted using a leaf blower here in norwich. You couldn't make it up. 
  • "Motorists have been advised to keep both hands on the wheel........" ??

    Is that not the normal way of driving in most situations ? Where's your other hand going to be ?  Or was that a warning to the folk who, whilst driving, are using a phone, fiddling with the radio, giving the finger to other motorists or using one hand for other more unspeakable practices?  :D
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