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‘The answer lies in the soil’ Arthur Fallowfield used to say
with a pronounced rural burr, on the BBC’s iconic
comedy triumph ‘Beyond Our Ken’.
And the root zone for trees is certainly a potentially
dangerous route for all in densely populated areas.
Street trees compete with pedestrians and vehicles for space in cities.
Yet they are the lungs of the earth, absorb pollution, reduce noise and are of infinite psychological and aesthetic value.
They are vital to us and it beholds us to know what is vital to them.
In cities through a few square feet of soil around the base of their trunk, especially when young and fragile, tree roots absorb the water, nutrients and air necessary for life. Yes roots need air too. They also establish the tree’s ability to stay upright!
It is important therefore, for the health of the tree, that this area is not compacted.
But also compacted, root dense, uneven soil can lead to trip hazards which could be lethal next to traffic.
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At this busy crossing point, on a central reservation in Bath’s London Road , this delicate root zone is protected with a root protection grille.
Mercifully such protective grilles are increasingly common.
Here it is decorative as well as functional.
We all think that rusted steel is sexy now and I like the theoretical root pattern which is both subtly raised and then incised right through the metal.
However, in addition this grille has a message.
Necessarily it is brief. Attention spans are short and the middle of the London Road is not the place for a treatise on root growth.
But the attention is grabbed. The warning sign is there:
‘My roots are here’.
R
The post ‘The root of all evil’ or the route of all health. appeared first on Garden Designers Bristol, Bath and Beyond | Hegarty Webber Design.
