Ah well, problem solved now. I heard banging noises outside and went out to see them putting the tree stakes in . I asked what they had given us and it's a Magnolia, they didn't say which one. It's about 3 m tall looks fine. I will take a picture later Thanks to everyone for their ideas.
In La Roche-sur-Yon, liquidambar is a popular street tree. Have to say it has a lovely shape as well as all that colour in autumn and has survived this summer's extreme temperatures and drought. In Belgium I only ever saw it in gardens and it did well as a specimen tree, surviving winter colds to -25C and lots of rain but not having sodden roots thru winter.
Here, I've seen magnoilas used as street trees and parking lot trees as well as garden trees. In Luçon there are magnoilas pruned into lollipop shapes in street plantings.
Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
"The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
We have lots of magnolias locally, in gardens, dominating the streets of the neighbourhood, though not planted by the council. Some smalla nd shrubby, some as tall as the houses. They are a stunning site in the spring, though the season of interest is pretty narrow.
Most of the London horse chestnuts are badly affected by 'leaf blotch' fungi. They look ravaged, though I understand it doesn't much harm the trees. They look very forlorn. I'm not sure if the whole of the UK has been as badly affected.
Most of the London horse chestnuts are badly affected by 'leaf blotch' fungi. They look ravaged, though I understand it doesn't much harm the trees. They look very forlorn. I'm not sure if the whole of the UK has been as badly affected.
which is a rapidly spreading problem. It has affected all the horse chestnuts around here, starting with those along main roads, and is difficult or impossible to treat.
A trowel in the hand is worth a thousand lost under a bush.
Our street trees are London planes, planted around 1905 and left to grow to the height of the houses. I'm not sure when regular pollarding started (they really shouldn't have been left to grow so big). We are on London clay and subsidance is a big local problem with drying and wetting clay shifting all the time.
We have about 80 trees on the street and their roots are said to be interfering with the foundations of many 1905 houses. Struggles ensue between the householder, their insurance company and the council. Often the tree comes out by way of resolution.
I personally don't think planes were a great choice of tree for a fairly narrow road. Planes sprout from the base and this blocks the road and pavement. Maybe the council came to prune back several times a year, back in the day. They certainly don't now. They are quite high maintenance of a municipality to manage. The borough has 11, 000 street trees, a fair chunk of those over 100 years old, and planted before mass car ownership.
Battles rage in the neighbourhood between people who want the planes to come out and those who don't want any tree to come out. Our council is good (locally at least) at replanting excised trees, usually with a birch or cherry or hawthorn.
What they are not at all good at is managing (or paying any attention at all to) trees in council homes. The council need to allocate proper budget to taking enormous, unmonitored, uncared for trees in hand. If one of those came down, it would take out half the neighbourhood.
BTW, more recent studies show that the constant repeated infestations of Horse Chestnuts does weaken them.
Is that from fungal, leaf miners or both? I would imagine the radically reduced capacity for photosynthesis, with browned leaves, would have some effect, over decades. I still feel saddened to see the chestnut havoc - not what I grew up with.
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Thanks to everyone for their ideas.
Here, I've seen magnoilas used as street trees and parking lot trees as well as garden trees. In Luçon there are magnoilas pruned into lollipop shapes in street plantings.
Is that from fungal, leaf miners or both? I would imagine the radically reduced capacity for photosynthesis, with browned leaves, would have some effect, over decades. I still feel saddened to see the chestnut havoc - not what I grew up with.