Community

Trees are planted along streets to bring grace, greenery and gratitude...(enough alliteration! Ed) to households and townscapes. Twenty years ago, presumably, councils bought job lots of saplings from gypsy nurseries and planted them in regular plots along the pavements, and householders have suffered ever since. Trees which would have been or would be at home in forests now live in urban roads. Nightmare plantations have erupted, with these huge longlived forest trees thrusting their invincible roots into the ancient foundations of medieval buildings, willow roots seeking out and clogging drains, towering canopies darkening modest windows. Householders are in despair. Asking to have trees removed is sacreligious. No good saying that tilia attracts aphids which drop vile sticky sap onto everything below. No good saying that Acers cast dark shadows. No good saying that these trees have roots which heave pavements up and cause old ladies to trip and fall over. How long will it before common sense prevails?