Council ‘Snuck In After Dark’ To Remove Trees

Did you hear about how Doncaster Council ‘Snuck In After Dark’ To Remove Trees? These were located next to the pavement on either side of the street. As well as being aesthetically pleasing, the trees provided the residents with privacy from their neighbours and shade for their front gardens. The trees were removed ahead of pavement repairs as the trees’ roots had apparently affected the structural stability of the walkways.

There was strong local opposition as the council had failed to publish their findings and, in the residents’ eyes, the pavements were not consistently damaged enough to warrant the removal of all the trees.

The council have said they have only removed the trees to ensure the highway could be maintained in the safe condition.

How Can I Stop This Happening To Me?

While the above is an extreme case, there are many things you can do to ensure that the greenery on your street is retained:

If you suspect that roots may be causing damage to any of your own property, but you want to retain your greenery, we recommend getting a tree survey. The tree survey will outline estimated root growth areas – this will mean you can remove the tree or trees that you suspect are causing the damage and not feel the need to remove all the trees in your garden.

You may wish to apply to the council to gain a tree protection order on a tree. Each council’s process is slightly different, but you must be able to prove that your tree is an exemplar specimen and adds ecological value to the area. A tree survey may be able to help with this.

If you suspect that unwanted tree work could be planned for the greenery surrounding your property, we recommend checking your local council’s planning website. This should contain all planning applications that have been made to the council and their status. If you wish to raise an objection to any tree work, you can do so formally through this website and you can encourage others to do the same.

We are able to complete tree surveys and applications for tree protections orders, so if you want to ensure this doesn’t happen to you, call us on 01782 479 479.

What is a Landscape Strategy?

A landscape strategy is one of many technical documents that ProHort can produce to aid you throughout your planning application and subsequent development. It includes a detailed plan of the site, often specifying the hard and soft landscaping elements that will be included in the project. You may get multiple plans; typically one that covers the planting elements (and will identify where individual trees and plants are to be placed) and another that may highlight the areas of hard landscaping. The plans will also identify any existing features on the site that will be retained.

A clear landscape strategy will incorporate aspects of the property’s history and the surrounding area to ensure that your design seamlessly blends into the environment. You may also get additional details of the type, size and colour of the plants incorporated into the strategy, or specifications regarding compensating for any loss of biodiversity.

They can also be tailored to meet your requirements – if you have a particular plant, style of paving or additional touch that you would like incorporated then your landscape architect should be able to arrange this. Please be aware that a landscape strategy will exclude pricing of items, as it is purely a strategic document.

Please get in touch if you would like more information about our landscape strategy documents

My Plants are Struggling to Thrive- Why?

As well as testing the health of the soil, we offer additional tests which may highlight any issues and reasons why your plants are struggling.

Water Testing

If you have a water butt or a pond in your garden, and you use this water on your plants, you may wish to consider having this water tested. This test will highlight the quantities of specific minerals that are present in the water (including Phosphorus, Potassium, Copper and Iron) as well as the water’s PH.

Fertiliser Testing

We can offer testing for fertilisers, showing you the levels of Nitrogen, Potassium and Phosphorus present so that you can ensure that this is the right balance for your plants.

Soil Biology

This range of tests will show you the total amount of bacteria and fungi that is present in your soil. Having active soil (with active bacteria) is often a good sign that your soil conditions are right for growth. However, if your soil has too many bacteria present, then these may be affecting your plants.

Leaf Analysis

We are also able to test plant leaves directly, although we would only recommend this for larger plants or crops, given the amount of leaves that need to be collected. As well as a general health check, leaves can also be tested for heavy metal contamination as well.

There are many factors that may affect the health of the plants in your garden and by utilising the above information, you should be able to tailor your gardening approach and ensure that your garden flourishes. If you require any further advice, please feel free to contact us today!

Can you Check Whether my Garden Has Been Sprayed With a Specific Substance?

We get many enquiries asking for help identifying whether a garden has been sprayed with specific pesticide or herbicide (whether by a neighbour, commercial vehicle or by a previous owner). Unfortunately, our soil testing cannot confirm the exact chemical composition of what has been sprayed – there are simply too many varieties of common weedkiller, and they may have been mixed. If you would like to test for pesticides or herbicides, we can offer the below solutions:

Testing for groups of pesticides or herbicides

While individual pesticides cannot be identified, we are able to test for groups of pesticides or herbicides. Specifically, we can test for the presence of organochlorine pesticides, organophosphate pesticides, organonitrogen pesticides and acid herbicides. These tests can be completed individually or grouped together, as per your requirements.

Completing a soil health test

If your plants are failing to thrive, and you believe this could be due to pesticides or herbicides used previously, there are a variety of tests on offer which you may wish to consider. These tests will check the soil health generally and allow you to understand which nutrients or chemicals may be causing damage to your plants. The options include:

– Broad Spectrum Soil Health
– Animal Health Soil Test (for soil where grazing animals are present)
– Heavy Metal Contamination for Vegetable Production (testing for minerals that can cause specific issues when growing vegetables)
– Broad Spectrum Leaf (where the leaf of a plant is tested rather than the soil)

We also offer tests to certify that your topsoil meets the requirements of British Standard 3882 (2015) and that your subsoil meets the requirements of British Standard 8601 (2013).

All these options will help you better understand your soil and the damage that pesticides and herbicides may have caused to your growth potential. If you feel you may need one of these tests please do contact us today!