Tree Pruning in Walden Road
A Road Steward in Walden Road, Barbara Arora, has written to Bromley Council expressing her concerns at recent heavy pruning in the Road. The Council's arboriculturist, Julian Fowgies, responded to her with the following:
Dear Barbara,
I am sorry for the shock and upset caused by our tree works on Walden Road to you and your neighbours. The trees have indeed been heavily pruned but I am confident in their recovery. I agree that the trees were not pruned at an optimum time biologically (either mid winter or mid Summer), however Bromley prunes thousands of trees annually and it would not be practical to schedule our tree work in to these narrow time frames. We prune many trees with this severity at this time of year and are losses as a result are minimal.
The tree work was ordered last year in response to survey results from our contractor and a follow up inspection from me. The surveyor picked up defects ranging from decay at previous pruning points and trunk rot to bacterial slime flux infection (Bleeding Canker) from as far back as 27/04/2005. Trees with these defects have their crowns minimised in order to reduce the risk of ‘wind throw’ and structural failure, unfortunately the results of these works are often initially aesthetically brutal.
I do concede that notification to residents located opposite of the intended works would have been a good idea in this instance. Ordinarily we will only inform residents when felling is taking place, however I believe I could have been more sensitive and written to those concerned given the severity of the pruning operation.
If you require any further information please do not hesitate to contact me.
Regards
Julian Fowgies ND Arboriculture