Forum Topic

New Trees outside Morrisons

I saw a van unloading some new trees outside Morrisons this morning, so perhaps they are being replaced after all, panic over, horray!

Lucy Garner ● 5316d18 Comments

Any irrigation gear in the van, or do the street drinkers each get a tree to water?

Fred Bray ● 5316d

Fred, are the drinkers still in evidence?

Dee Cook ● 5314d

"  Fred, are the drinkers still in evidence?  "Dee, the drinkers on Acton Mount, are the Acton equivalent of the ravens in the Tower of London.

Fred Bray ● 5314d

I noticed that these trees had been put in this morning, and from what i could see the paving slabs around the trees will be left out, or have a metal grate put around them like most other councils do

James Knights ● 5313d

If the drainage system could not cope with the old trees will the new ones not suffer the same fate? I though the Council needed to sort that out first before planting any new ones.

Tony Crumpton ● 5313d

They are in much bigger holes which apparently was a large part of the problem with the old ones.

Sara Nathan ● 5313d

Well pointed out Fred,  could not agree more!

Jen Morty ● 5313d

They would be better off planting the trees in the pots, with the dirt from around the country.....£500,000?

Nicola Howard ● 5313d

The trees (more suitable ones than the dead ones, I'm told, but I don't know the species) will, as Sara said, be in bigger holes with a much more efficient irrigation system. There is also be a 3-year service agreement to ensure that the trees survive their 'youth'. All of this will cost £40,000 - not £500,000, although it is part of the Outer London Fund money.BTW, the number of pots seems to have shrunk from 21 to 10...

Nancy Duin ● 5312d

BTW, the number of pots seems to have shrunk from 21 to 10...Any chance of 10 to 0?

Nicola Howard ● 5312d

...agreed, but where are the 10 going to be located?

Dee Cook ● 5312d

The pots are going to be placed along the High Street, above ground somehow so that they don't impede foot traffic. Don't know more than that.At this stage, I think we should just watch and wait. The money is spent - who knows? the results might actually be attractive.But please don't keep going on about the pots costing £500,000 - it's just untrue!

Nancy Duin ● 5312d

Who knows, perhaps the 'elf & safety' lot will declare the pots are a hazard if they are positioned above ground level!

Jean F Fernandez ● 5312d

Nancy - how much did the pots cost ?

Joseph Birotz ● 5312d

I don't know what the final bill for those pots will be. I do know that the council has dug deep (hopefully with help from the East Acton ward forum) and is adding a new pot - of money this time - so that we can have a genuinely Acton-based art project centred on the south fence of Acton Park and managed by Acton Community Forum and watched over closely by APPLE in the Art Block in the park - watch this space!

Nancy Duin ● 5311d

Classic this one! Spoke to the sweet lady at the Market this morning and we got onto the subject of the new trees. Apparently Ealing Council ordered the trees but forgot about the metal  grills to go around them. 5 weeks for delivery!!! Also they have used sand to plant them in. I would have thought a mixture of compast soil and grit would have been better drainage but I am no gardner.

Tony Crumpton ● 5311d

I was also surprised to see that the new trees were surrounded by sand, unless they originate from a desert or something this doesn't seem right!Surely when ordering the trees and planning where to plant them a little thought should have occurred about a grid to go around the bottom?I do hope that the person responsible for replanting trees is a gardener or at the very least, familiar with tree planting and the requirements for aftercare, otherwise the same thing will no doubt happen again. Trees take some time to become established so hopefully the care will be ongoing.When the previous trees were planted many residents, including me, were asking about the watering system - there did not appear to be one in place. It was due to lack of water that the trees died.

Jean F Fernandez ● 5311d

Just hope the council have a long hosepipe!Taking liberties with a well known song by "The Tokens"In the desert, the mighty desert, the trees sleep tonight.  A-waterweh-a-waterweh, Wee-ee-ee-e-he?

Nicola Howard ● 5310d