Planting Mature Trees
We’ve had an exciting couple of weeks here at Studio 31; competition deadlines, co-ordinating builds and some adventurous conceptual design work in full swing!
Among all the (happy) chaos, we wanted to come up for air to talk about one of our favourite things; trees. Big trees.
On one particular day last week, two of our team were out on two very different sites, in two different counties with two very different sets of weather but both taking delivery of some evergreen, mature, native trees. Up in Suffolk, it was -3 degrees with snow storms whilst in balmy Hertfordshire there was blue skies and the perfect sunny winters day (not sure who got the raw end of the deal there).
At one site thirteen 3 metre Pinus sylvestris (Scots Pine) were delivered to one of our commercial clients to be used as part of a unique entrance way. At the other residential project eighteen 7 metre Ilex aquifolium (Common Holly) were being delivered as part of a screening programme. These were mature trees weighing in excess of a tonne and requiring specialist equipment and expertise in both transporting and planting. These types of installations are where our network of professional partnerships with high quality suppliers and contractors really come into their own and allow the trees the best start to begin to thrive in their new homes.
Whilst the debate rages on in landscape and ecology realms about the benefits of native versus non-native (in terms of biodiversity), on these schemes native trees were the right choice. At both sites, the respective trees are building on the existing ecology and habitats by echoing the local flora and surrounding woodlands and with both species being evergreen, they will have the advantage of fulfilling their roles all year round. As with all our schemes, we look to provide planting which carefully considers the needs of the site, the client’s brief and it’s ecological and environmental impact. Planting big, beautiful native trees is an easy win for us as it fulfils all our objectives with ease.