Not about street trees this time, but a post about what private land trees add to our local environment (what the planning law refers to, rather blandly, as "amenity value").
It happens every year about this time, but this is an extraordinary year, and the spectacle even more impressive - I'm talking of course, about the flowering of that magnificent rambling rose that has been growing up the sycamore/maple in the front garden of the house on the corner of Harefield and Wickham Road for many years now:
Not only is it a beautiful sight, but the scent is also worth catching, particularly at dusk.
The four houses at each corner of this junction are impressive, and clearly the plantings in each of the front gardens reflect their grandeur. The copper beech opposite this maple is a fine example of its kind. Here it is mid April and mid June:
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| Copper beech (fagus sylvatica f. purpurea) in spring - note pinkish tint to immature canopy |
The companion to this tree, diagonally opposite, was lost to honey fungus some years ago. It was replaced by what looks like a maple/acer of some variety, and which has a lot of catching up to do:
