DFB
Well-known member
- Aug 12, 2019
- 4,870
- 2,916
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- #1,181
When my sister still owned a property in town, she had it rented out and I was paid to keep the garden in good shape, which was smart as the garden ended up being a huge selling feature. Anyway, as part of the development of the estate, the council planted out a variety of street trees. Where most of the streets were planted with nice trees, including some lovely Pin Oaks up the center strip, for some reason they decided to plant a random gum tree on the very edge of my sisters driveway. While some gum trees are nice, this one was ugly and messy.
Anyway, one afternoon my sister was contacted by the estate agent to say that a tree had fallen at the property, and that her gardener (me) should go and fix the problem because the tenant could leave the driveway. When I was contacted, I said that the only tree to possibly fall across the driveway was the one on the nature strip, the one the council had planted. That was something the estate agent should have known as they were sent images from the tenant, and in actual fact the tree hadn't fallen down, rather a large limb had snapped and obstructed the driveway, which something gums can do regardless of age.
In the end, the council was called to deal with the branch, and a few weeks later, the tree was removed entirely.
Two things to note with that story............
1. Some people really have no idea how to do their job other than typing emails and hoping someone else will solve the issue.
2. Local councils are useless. In the case of tree planting, they really don't have a clue what they are doing, selecting inappropriate tree varieties, then planting them in inappropriate locations. From what I have learnt, councils get allocated a budget to plant trees and it's their job to use all of that money, otherwise its allocated to another district. This then leads to reckless spending and planting. That explains why a display of flowering cherry trees at the entrance to town were chopped down and....................replaced with the same tree. Or chopping down established Plane trees and......................replanting them with more Plane trees. Or selecting a huge shade tree to be planted in the newly renovated mall, right beside the shop fronts, within a couple of meters in fact. A few months later, those trees were removed and replaced by something else. Council is also lax at maintaining these trees, as in left to dry out over summer or not fixing vandalism, so the trees don't really flourish as they end up merely surviving.
None of that is to say there isn't a need for tree planting, I sell trees for a living. My issue is the reckless actions of council, wasting money on projects they have no idea about.
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