TREES Lifestyle
Thetruth about
People are passionate
about trees – butthiscan
mean beingfor or againstthem.
Arboriculturalist PiP Howard
offers histop
tree tips forflat owners
to discover that thesurface area ofamature tree canbeasmuchas300 acres. So it is no wonder that treesaremanipulatedbymany landscaperstoincreasethe impact of green space –atreeliterally enlarges thelandscape.
Trees bring benefitsThebenefits of planting trees include a dramatic rise in
biodiversity;lower heatingorcooling costs, reducedfloodingrisk; proven better health andwellbeing;areduction in airborneand soil pollution; andofcourseadecreaseincarbon dioxide and an increase in oxygen. The benefits of trees can also bemeasured in
financial terms and in theUKthere have been valuationmethods fortrees sincethe Helliwell method wasdevised in
1967.Newermethods, such as iTreeswhich helps calculate the environmental valueand CAVATwhich takes accountofthe real financial costsofplanting andmaintainingatreemeanthatweare able to placeavalue on treesinamuchmore precise andtangibleway than withmuch property valuation. However, treesare valuable only if that valueisappreciatedbythosewho have to live with them,whethertheyare on their own or neighbouring land. Despite an increasingamount of evidence
pointing to the fact that trees are good for people,wherever they live,the number of trees nowbeing removedfrom both urbanand rural landscapes is greater than ever before. This is partly duetoahost of newtreepathogens spreadingacrosstheUKat an alarming rate. But there are other reasons for tree removal whichare within
ourcontrol.Anincreasing percentage of trees die young simply because they have been planted in the wrong place or appear to have outgrowntheirlocation and aretherefore arisktopeopleand property,or they restrict light or increase detritus such as leaf litter andbirddroppings. Themajorityof blocks of flats are located in an urban or semi- urbansettingwheretrees have enormous
Flat Living Autumn2012
*trees
atreeisfarandaway themost dominant naturalfeature in an urbanlandscape.Ifyou couldiron outatreeyou wouldbeamazed
amenity value. Sowhat should flat owners know about trees and howcan they avoid some of the problems associated with them.
Exploding themythsThecommon myth that laws surroundingtrees areagrey
area is erroneous, in fact theUKhas a very well evolvedlegal frameworkfor trees. The Coalition Government has introducedmany newguidelinesand legislationwhich affects theplanning
andmanagementoftrees.The Tree Preservation Order(TPO) systemhas been redrafted, theNationalPlanning Policy Framework(NPPF )has beenintroduced andthe Forestry IndependentPanel Report recommendations to government (resulting fromthe u-turn by government on the selling of allpubliclyowned forestsintheUK), also provides recommendationsfor treesinan urbanenvironment.
nowbeingremoved... is greater than ever before
Thebasicsofthe laware this.Unlessatree
is protectedbyaTreePreservationOrder (TPO) theowner has everyright to fell atreeontheir property (but notinexcessof5cubicmetres percalenderquarter–which requires afelling licence).Ifaneighbour’streebranchesorroot systemencroach onto your land, youare entitled to cutbacktothe
boundary.Cross theboundary andyou areguilty of criminal damage. One commonmyth,which is quite
damaging as long as it is perpetuated,
surroundstreeroots.The root structureis NOTamirror image of
thetreecanopy.Most rootsaremuch morecompact andshallower than
believed.The greatstorm of 1987 allowed an opportunityfor astudy of ‘TreeRootPlate Morphology’
byP.E.Gasson&
D.F.Cutler. This speciesbyspeciesstudy gave us thefirst base set of dimensions for all commonUK
19 Thenumberoftrees
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