Tag: trees

Yet another tree hit by high winds!

I am afraid we have lost several other trees in the recent high winds. One came down very close to the Lodge, luckily it appears it didn’t cause any damage.

both trees were quite large but have now been cut into manageable pieces. It is hard to tell if any grave stones have been damaged by the tree shown but we will certainly have to re-site our section marker!

It is a sad fact that many of the trees in the cemetery are  over 120 years old, and so reaching the end of their lives (Not all trees live as long as Oaks). They are regularly tested for the strength of their trunks but in both these cases it was the sodden earth that failed to hold on to the weight of the tree above- an issue that can’t be tested for!

Interesting addition to a tree!!

This may look as if someone has just wedged a rake into this tree and gone off for their cup of tea…..

The truth is a little stranger. This rake was undoubtedly propped here many years ago by a member of staff but for whatever reason it was never retrieved. It is in a not often visited area of the Cemetery and over many seasons the tree grew, absorbing the rake within its growth! The wooden stale has long ago rotted away. Recently Birmingham Trees for Life published a similar item but instead of a rake it was……a bike. Check it out on their site.

 

Victorian’s vision for Brandwood’s trees

The amazing photographs below were taken by one of our facebook supporters and  I think they shows the amazing number and variation of trees in Brandwood End Cemetery…close to 1700 individual trees, planted following a grid template by the great landscape designer ‘Louden’.

We must remember that when these trees were planted, around 1899, they would have been very small saplings and the people who planted them knew they would never personally enjoy the scene they were creating!

We must also remember our significant avenue of Redwoods…..

Major tree work continues in the cemetery.

Tree contractors, Idverde, have crown lifted many conifers (removed lower branches) and other species, as well as removing Ivy from the lower 6 feet of trunks along the Sunderton road boundary.

Regular visitors to the cemetery will have noticed a huge increase in tree work in the last year. This has followed a survey to determine the safety of many of the older and diseased trees, to prevent damage to graves, property and people in the future. Brandwood End was opened in 1899 and many of the trees were planted then or, in the case of some of the oaks, before that date. Oaks often live for several hundred years but many other species have a much shorter life expectancy and that is the case with many of our 1700 plus trees!

 

We have seen major crown lifting on both sides of our Wellingtonia avenue, large trees removed on the Broad Lane boundary, Poplars removed along the Sunderton Road boundary, Woodland reduced on the pool end of Sunderton road and various trees crown lifted or removed across the cemetery.

On the plus side, great care has been taken to consider wildlife with trees left untouched that are being used by Woodpeckers, ivy growth removed in some areas and left in others for nesting, standing tree stumps left to improve biodiversity and logs piled for Hedgehog use.

A tree replacement programme has been started and a number of new trees have already been planted by local pupils. The Friends hope that this can continue, provided funding can be found.

Reasons for tree removal vindicated.

Things are often not what they seem….especially when it comes to trees. Our relatively healthy looking Poplars were hiding a potentially dangerous secret!

The ‘heartwood’, or centre of the trunks, on several trees was rotten. This is obviously something that can’t be seen by eye- but is one of the major things that the Tree Officer will have arranged to be tested. I photographed just a couple of examples…..but there were several.

I will also post some photos of the ‘kit’ and the felled trees as it was a hive of industry. It has opened up the back of the adjacent houses and must make a difference to their light?

Lets hope this great tree husbandry continues with the planting of interesting and suitable replacement trees in the not too distant future.

Removal of Black Poplar trees

Those of you that are visiting the cemetery this week, or who live adjacent to the cemetery in Sunderton Road, will be aware that there is a lot of activity on that side of the cemetery. As we posted earlier, a number of large Poplar trees are being removed as they are now reaching the end of their life and the Tree Officer felt that, for safety reasons, they need to be removed.  This is part of the tree husbandry work that has been happening in the Cemetery with trees being ‘crown lifted’, felled and trimmed.

It is hoped that these trees will all be replaced in the coming financial year with a number of unusual more suitable specimen trees, in line with the initial planting. Brandwood End has in excess of 1700 trees, many of which are unusual and were planted over 100 years ago. The Friends hope they can encourage an ongoing replacement programme by the City, as trees reach the end of their life. As usual the stumbling block will be finance!!