Sick trees get up Mayor's nose

Iwannahurl

Literally, it would appear.



http://www.connachttribune.ie/galway-news/item/1172-seventy-failed-trees-to-be-replaced-on-quirke-road

On a more serious note, using trees like this in landscaping schemes is a waste of money. It has long been my opinion, based on personal experience, that planting large trees from pots is a false economy.

The notion is that planting large potted trees gives instant impact, but in many cases the reality is that the trees have become pot-bound. The problem is exacerbated by the common practice of not giving the tree sufficient space when planting. They suffer from 'girdling roots' and fail to thrive.



Healthy trees grown in situ from bare-root slips quickly outperform much larger trees planted from pots. Housing estates throughout Galway are littered with miserable shallow-rooted trees that will never thrive or look right.

And the landscaping contractors keep on doing it.

snubbleste

He needs to get a better photographer

Storm 10

That new road is disgrace dead trees and loads of weeds coming up through the stones on the islands, those Islands are the biggest waste of space, you could have had extra lanes with a single narrow traffic island, what the hell were the planners thinking about when they designed that usless upgrade and what a wase of money it us.

McTigs

Storm 10 wrote: »

That new road is disgrace dead trees and loads of weeds coming up through the stones on the islands, those Islands are the biggest waste of space, you could have had extra lanes with a single narrow traffic island, what the hell were the planners thinking about when they designed that usless upgrade and what a wase of money it us.

It's an absolute joy to cycle compared with how it used to be.

galwaycyclist

Storm 10 wrote: »

That new road is disgrace dead trees and loads of weeds coming up through the stones on the islands, those Islands are the biggest waste of space, you could have had extra lanes with a single narrow traffic island, what the hell were the planners thinking about when they designed that usless upgrade and what a wase of money it us.

Well what they were originally thinking was that they would make cyclists get off and walk at every junction. This was the plan Joe Tansey presented to the council and afterwards to An Bord Pleanala. Happily, An Bord Pleanala threw that aspect of the design back at them.

Iwannahurl

I'm pining for a good discussion on the SQR myself, but I wooden like to see this thread branching out in that direction. Only fir to the boards mods, as they will only have to root out any traffic-related aggro, which as yew know is knot poplar.

Etc.

McTigs

you're absolutely barking, you know thast don't you.

Iwannahurl

You finally twigged that?

galwaycyclist

Iwannahurl wrote: »

I'm pining for a good discussion on the SQR myself, but I wooden like to see this thread branching out in that direction. Only fir to the boards mods, as they will only have to root out any traffic-related aggro, which as yew know is knot poplar.

Etc.

Agreed the SQR design story was only by way of showing the level we are at in terms of the vision available from local authority officials in the early 21st century.

But a more appropriate story might be Eyre Square 1999. At a public meeting on the future of the square, the city councils landscape architecture consultant puts up a slide of Central Park in New York and talks about the idea of recreating the countryside in urban parks.

Then he tells his audience that the day of the countryside park is gone. This is because nowadays if you want to see the country then you can just get in your car and drive out of town to have a look at the country.

antoobrien

Iwannahurl wrote: »

I'm pining for a good discussion on the SQR myself, but I wooden like to see this thread branching out in that direction. Only fir to the boards mods, as they will only have to root out any traffic-related aggro, which as yew know is knot poplar.

Etc.

There is a thread for discussing SQR: http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056327459&page=72

Iwannahurl

I'm banned from that one, but who knows, maybe Biko has forgiven and forgotten...

Mind you, come to think of it, that thread was just for the SQR roadworks.

Das Kitty

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Agreed the SQR design story was only by way of showing the level we are at in terms of the vision available from local authority officials in the early 21st century.

But a more appropriate story might be Eyre Square 1999. At a public meeting on the future of the square, the city councils landscape architecture consultant puts up a slide of Central Park in New York and talks about the idea of recreating the countryside in urban parks.

Then he tells his audience that the day of the countryside park is gone. This is because nowadays if you want to see the country then you can just get in your car and drive out of town to have a look at the country.

I stopped reading when I realised there were no puns.

I demand puns!

:pac:

Iwannahurl

You'll get sycamore puns very quickly.

galwaycyclist

Das Kitty wrote: »

I demand bpuns!

:pac:

Would scones or perhaps a chocolate muffin do instead?

Redhairedguy

galwaycyclist wrote: »

Would scones or perhaps a chocolate muffin do instead?

Probably not; but I'm easily swayed...

Discodog

The trees would of been fine if they were planted properly & watered during our hot summer.
The contractor is responsible for planting & they often give guarantees. However this would depend on watering which may be the council's responsibility.

Iwannahurl

I'd like to do a trial and compare the growth of container-grown MacTrees with that of bare-root 'whips' over a period of years.

It is my contention that estates, and possibly road schemes, all over the city have blighted trees because of pot-bound roots and associated problems.

Any such trial would also have to factor in the substantially lower cost of bare-root trees, imo. I doubt it'll happen though. Optics and quick fixes are too important.

Iwannahurl

Redhairedguy wrote: »

Probably not; but I'm easily swayed...

Like a container-grown tree...;)