Vandalism - help please ...

In the early morning of Saturday 18th May, one of our new part-funded street trees in Tyrwhitt Road was wantonly snapped in two, by person or persons unknown. 

 

The incident has been reported to the Met Police and recorded under Crime Reference Number 3210967/13

If you have any information about this crime, please contact the Brockley Safer Neighbourhood Team in the first instance: 

http://content.met.police.uk/Team/Lewisham/Brockley

It is our intention to have the tree replanted as a priority.

Thank you. 

Anthony, Nicola, Eamonn & James
Tree Wardens
The Brockley Society

Hilly Fields honoured with Jubilee tree

As part of the on-going celebrations to mark the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, we will be planting the Jubilee Tree donated by the Tree Council at Hilly Fields on Wednesday 22 May.  

Meet at the café from 12.45. Students from Prendergast school will come out at 1.15 pm for the ceremony.  Several people from the Brockley 50+ Club which meets at Brockley Social Club will share some memories of the Coronation with us and then some of them and the students will plant the tree.

This is a prestigious occasion for Brockley as there will only be 60 trees throughout the country to commemorate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. A digital record of all 60 plantings will be presented to Her Majesty in June. The tree itself will have a smart plaque which will be readable from smart phones. Please do join us -- Brockley Society tree officers, Friends of Hilly Fields, and Prendergast School students -- for this special occasion. 

If you or anyone you know has memories of the Coronation, do encourage them to attend.

The tree we have selected is a disease resistant English Elm (ulmus procera), a species which was decimated in the 60's and 70's on the arrival of Dutch Elm Disease in the UK. There are two fine surviving specimens in Preston Park, Brighton, believed to be the two oldest surviving specimens in the country:

By Ulmus man (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

PS. Interestingly, there is also a surviving elm in Ladywell Fields, which hardly ever gets any press, so I'll go on a photo hunt soon and post you a picture here ...

Preaching to the converted ...

Link to BBC News website: Green spaces boosts wellbeing of urban dwellers

Well, no surprise to us, but yet more research to link the considerable benefits of local green space, this time from a UK university who have been collating the data from 5,000 households (10,000 adults) as they move throughout the UK over a period of seventeen years. 

According to Dr Matthew White at the European Centre for the Environment and Human Health based in the Medical Faculty at Exeter University:

"We've found that living in an urban area with relatively high levels of green space can have a significantly positive impact on wellbeing, roughly equal to a third of the impact of being married."

Odd that the rest of us in long-term relationships or those who are single or unattached don't get to feel the benefits, but hey ho, we'll just have to use our imaginations, or just look out of the window on this glorious spring morning: 

2nd May 2013 - View from an attic window this morning

Kick-off for Twelve Trees

This post marks the introduction of our New Plantings map (see the tab above) which details the additions to the street tree stock from 1st March 2013.

Thanks to the generosity of a number of Brockley residents, the conservation area (and beyond) is now home to twelve new street trees, in part, replacing many of the mature trees removed in 2012 due to disease. These trees have been match-funded, with residents sharing the cost 50:50 with Lewisham Council. 

We have attempted to meet the specifications given by our residents whilst also trying to increase the diversity of the species we use, primarily to reduce the risk to our current stock of public space trees from diseases and unusual climactic conditions due to global warming. 

In this rather cold, grey spring, the new trees are not much to look at, but we thought we would give you a flavour of some of what's to come: 

Two Callery Pear, pyrus calleryana, (an ornamental pear native to China and Vietnam) have been planted in Shell Road (on the Lewisham side of the conservation area) and in Wickham Road. Here's a beautiful mature specimen in New York, USA (photo courtesy of plantsystematics.org at Cornell University): 

A River Birch, betula nigra, (native to eastern USA) has been planted in Tyrwhitt Road, noted for its fabulous autumn colour and exfoliate bark (it peels!). 

And in Breakspears Road, a classic, the Sweet Almond, prunus dulcis, (native to the Middle East and South Asia), the source of almonds and almond oil. Though nothing special in terms of summer foliage, it is stunning in bloom, and very attractive to honey bees, on which it relies for pollination: 

And, for this post, last, but certainly not least, a new oak for Hilly Fields, generously sited in Hilly Fields at the request of a resident of Hilly Fields Crescent. This a quercus robur, (European native), also known as  English or Pendunculate Oak: 

Quercus Robur - Hilly Fields

We will post updates about these new plantings in the coming months, and will post in situ photos once the summer arrives and there is something to show you!

Six more trees will be planted in the coming months in collaboration with the Pepys Community Forum.  Watch this space! 


Nicola, Anthony, Eamonn & James
Tree Wardens
The Brockley Society

Hilly Fields Fruit Hedge - Update 1

Despite terrible weather, a good 15 or so hardy souls turned up on 16th March to help plant fruit trees and shrubs in five newly created beds to the back of the stone circle on Hilly Fields. We were delighted to have the help and practical support of Jon Stokes and Margaret Lipscombe from The Tree Council (who have funded this project), and our own John Thompson from Lewisham Council's Green Scene who came along to help shift some particularly 'claggy' London clay. We were also joined by volunteers from The Friends of Hilly Fields, Transition Brockley, The London Orchard Project, and, of course, the hard core from The Brockley Society itself. 

Photo courtesy of Friends of Hilly Fields/Phil Hall

Hot soup and reviving beverages were laid on at Hilly Fields Café courtesy of The Tree Council, and Jon Stokes later led a walk around the area to talk about the tree planting in Hilly Fields, and gave us suggestions about how we can best safeguard the trees we have, and plan for the future.

Last but not least, we are very pleased to have made a connection with the pupils and staff of Prendergast Hilly Fields College who came and did some planting on the Friday before. We look forward to working with them again on the Jubilee Tree Planting event planned for May (updates to follow).

We are grateful for the help of Glendale (Green Scene's contractor) who rotivated the plots ahead of time, and who mulched the beds later in the week.

 

     


We will be bringing you regular updates about this project as the shrubs and plants become established, and about further plans to regenerate the tree stock in this lovely and precious local park.

Nicola, Anthony Eamonn & James
Tree Wardens
The Brockley Society

Philly cheese ... or ...

According to research just published by Temple University, Philadelphia, in their publication Landscape and Urban Planning, there is some evidence to suggest that the presence of trees and green space helps to reduce the incidence of assaults and robberies. 

Another reason for celebrating our leafy corner of Lewisham! 

Read more here: http://grist.org/news/do-trees-fight-crime-in-philadelphia/

Halcyon days of ... March 5th

Whilst we are all languishing in these dreary, icy days of late March, waiting for some sun and warmth, I thought I'd remind you of what's to come with these pictures of those long gone days of 5th March when we basked in ... 10 degrees, and the ornamental plums in Manor Avenue started to show their colours ...

Spade works ...

Two major events in March in the conservation area: 

Join us on Hilly Fields on Saturday 16th March to help plant over 70m of fruit hedge being donated by The Tree Council in recognition of the work of The Brockley Society Tree Wardens and local activists who are involved in promoting the health of our public space trees. 

The planting will be in the vicinity of the Hilly Fields Orchard (behind the stone circle) with volunteers gathering at the Hilly Fields Café at 10.30. ALL WELCOME. Wear sturdy shoes and be prepared for all weathers! A light lunch will be served at the café for morning volunteers (kindly provided by The Tree Council), then at 13.00, Jon Stokes, a knowledgeable expert from The Tree Council will conduct a walkabout in Hilly Fields and neighbouring streets to point out our notable tree specimens and talk about the challenges we face looking after them. We will wrap up about 15.00.

This project marks the highly successful and on-going relationship between The Brockley Society Tree Wardens and The Tree Council who are incredibly supportive of the work we are doing to protect and increase the stock and diversity of trees in the conservation area (and beyond). 

We have been greatly helped by the team from Lewisham Council's Green Scene (who are responsible for all green space work in the borough, including the maintenance of street trees), their contractors, Glendale, the hugely supportive Friends of Hilly Fields, and pupils and staff from Prendergast Hilly Fields College who will be helping to prepare the ground and plant the hedge.

Secondly, thirteen new trees will be planted in the conservation area to replace many street trees removed last summer due to disease. These have all been match-funded with local residents contributing 50% of the cost, and Lewisham Council the other 50%. More details of these plantings will be posted here, so stay tuned!


Anthony, Nicola, James and Eamonn
Tree Wardens
The Brockley Society

PS. See here for a report on the day