Sadly we lost one of our largest trees last night in the lashing storm that hit the South coast. One of four poplar trees that border the open grass and the “wild area” came down quite spectacularly, taking a substantial amount of the neighbouring sycamore with it. Incredibly, it managed to avoid all of the new hedging, the park bench, the old pear tree, the picnic bench and the noticeboard that were all within striking distance! It has now cut off the “wild area” where we have been discussing the idea of a pond. The council have been notified but it’s not an urgent problem and will be dealt with at some point. It would be nice to use the wood or woodchip somehow – mulch? Pond edging? We shall see. Poplar has very soft wood so it may not be that useful. In the summer the flowers break open and release a soft, white downy substance that floats in clouds around the edge of the park.
UPDATE 22nd feb 2014
The tree has now been sawn up and some of it has been left on site. We have been advised by Jon best, the Southwark Ecology Officer to take the logs into the wood or put them at the edges of the park.