Wire rope bridges and rigging in trees

Ever since I was a small child I have really liked walking on rope bridges...suspension bridges made out of wire rope usually though sometimes fibre rope, or similar. I suspect partly because as a small child I used to cross this one every now and again...

Suspension bridge across the Lembing River, Sungai Lembing Malaysia

Now it is pretty sturdy [for a 100yr bridge] compared to others that I have walked across in more recent times...

Wire rope bridges on Mount Tamborine

I think it is a very important to be able to get people closer to the canopies of trees, to experience a perspective of the bush that is rarely available. It is perhaps possible for the open minded person to suspend [sorry could not resist!] their human perspective and see the forest as a glider or a small bird might, flying through the midstorey. 

We almost always percieve trees as filling or taking up space...but to a great many living things it is rather the spaces between that define the woodland or forest environment. Rope bridges certainly focus the mind on the concept of the space between stems...the higher the bridge the more focussed the mind I guess!

Bridges from northern NSW subtropical rainforest

As I said I really like going on these sorts of bridges even though they might [as the last few did!] move around far more than you might like...I get sea sick quite easily!!!

I wish there were more places where people could easily access 'higher' views of the woods and forests...it might just stimulate a different way of looking at and thinking about the trees in the bush.

Royal Botanic Gardens Melbourne

Every now and again when the daily drudgery of work is getting almost too much I am reminded of just how lucky I am to be able to travel around this huge country to visit remarkable trees.

The last two weeks have been a case in point, just starting to mentally recover from almost a month of assessing cyclone damaged vegetation in North Queensland, when we get a job down in Melbourne, at the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Now of course as anyone who has read any of my posts will know I just love Botanic Gardens, especially if they contain older established trees..Melbourne has some magnificent trees dotted all around the city and suburbs as well as in the Royal Botanic Gardens.

Despite coming down with a nasty flu the afternoon sun highlighted some of the timeless qualities of spring foliage casting dappled patterns under the tree canopies.
 

Perfect spot for a picnic

 

Canopy above

There are certainly some favourite spots for daydreaming through the afternoon...

Though clearly not everyone has the same concept of lazying away the afternoon!

Puppies go wild

Not all of the trees are inside the garden walls, one of my personal favourite trees in Melbourne can be found on Punt Road just before it crosses the Yarra at the Hoddle Bridge..its a Golden Elm ~ Ulmus glabra 'Lutescens'.

Escape the road rage

Woodland in the city

This gorgeous weeping Golden Elm is being cared for through the efforts of The Friends of the Elms in Melbourne. Since the first time I saw this tree in 2006 its health has not visibly changed all that much, it remains for me a perfect example of why larger spreading street trees are so important to the quality of life of the people who live near it (lucky buggers) and those that pass by it in their daily commute.

Brisbane streetscapes new and old

As always these posts reflect my opinions about the topics I discuss, they are written with the knowledge that there are divergent views about every aspect of trees in our urban environment. It is my hope that my ideas are presented in a logical and rational manner and substantiated by the evidence available to even the casual reader.

The efforts to enhance the pedestrian environment are evident many Brisbane streets and are particularly clear when walking from Fortitude Valley train station up St Pauls Terrace.

The planting beds and benches that have been created on both sides of Brunswick Street are looking well established the Kauri Pines have grown significantly and are still young enough to have relatively dense foliage just at the height of the building awnings - visible greenery to the person on the street.

Sure it could be pointed out that in time these trees may well produce fruit that are frustrating to many street users, however leaf flower and seed drop are all part of normal growing patterns, and personally I have little problem with this aspect of trees' life cycle.

These planter beds have managed to reclaim some of the street for pedestrian users from the all powerful and all demanding motor car...and that in itself is (in my mind) a great move forward, to be truely effective there are other factors that have to be managed..but this is a good beginning.

It is interesting and thought provoking to compare this new streetscape with the older streets of St Pauls Terrace and the truely wonderful little Rogers Street.

At the top of St Pauls Terrace there's a line of mature figs which seem to have survived due to the presence of a school in the property fronting onto the street. None fo the attempts to install street trees on the opposite side of the street have been successful.

Rogers Street which also benefits from being adjacent to the school grounds and contains some fantastic examples of Brisbane street figs.

Now there is no question that the new plantings along Burnswick Street are a huge improvement for people (a great many people) passing through the valley, but I am confident that the majority of street users would prefer to be walking under the canopies of these beauties....

Yes I know that these figs are a nightmare for engineers, they disrupt the footpath and the kerb and channel....there's no question about that...

But personally I think it is a cost (and a small one relative to other rewards) worth paying for all the magnificent benefits they bring to our otherwise barren and hostile urban environment.

There are ways that trees like figs can be incorporated into new planned streetscapes, as with many of the challenges we face in city living it comes down to just how much you want something and are prepared to give up to have it.

I really hope as we get dragged kicking and screaming into the realisation of just how messed up our urban lifestyle is and the cumulative negative impacts it is having on everything around us (us included!)..that more and more of us will demand tree lined boulevards that reclaim space for pedestrians and the trees that make those streets places people enjoy, and actually gain benefits from being in.

After the Brisbane flood - A View from the Gardens

[Let me first clearly state that I have not visited any of the more seriously affected suburbs, and that this post is in no way intended to deminish the huge impact that the recent flood has had on the lives of hundreds of Brisbanites.]

It just so happens I got the opportunity to visit Brisbane last Thursday to attend a meeting, and after sitting inside for three hours a walk through Brisbane's Old Botanic Gardens was in order to help clear my head.

As should be very clear to anyone who has read any of my posts here or over at The Veteran Tree Group Blog that I am fascinated by the living history that our veteran trees represent, and the Old Botanic Gardens are a perfect example of that.

I like almost every square metre of the gardens, I love picturing in my head the original intent of the planners and landscapers who laid out the basic pattern of plantings. Probably my favourite sections are the Bunya pine avenue,

the weeping fig avenue

and the remnant Blue Gum on the banks of the Brisbane River.

On entering the park from Alice Street I was a little surprised that along the revetment wall, footpath and river bank there was very little obvious physical evidence of the recent (just over a week ago) flood.

The only visual clue is the extend of dead grass along the bank and the eroded state of the  mulch and soil.

I find this part of the city against the river really quite beautiful, perhaps because the tall multistorey buildings are some distance away, or perhaps because the cliff face on the opposite bank is relatively unchanged from the view in the late 1800's....I have been to quite a lot of cities overseas that are built on large rivers, and I have visited four state capitals here in Australia that are on big rivers...but Brisbane (or at least this section..and Fig tree pocket) is probably one of the most beautiful I have seen.

Despite what I (like every other Australian with a TV) saw for days not much more than one week ago, the Brisbane River now looks as harmless and tranquil as ever (ok its still pretty brown!).

I know that there are a great many people - not just in Qld - still struggling to reconstruct their lives...some will never be able to do that, people died...But I personally get a great deal of comfort from the defiant resiliance and defiance of the trees along the banks of the river.

...its almost as if they would look at the 2011 flood event and say...hmmm bit of rain nice water around my roots...it is sobering to remember that some of these trees (the older plantings have seen and endured far far worse).

Flooded gardens 1890's water up to the high bank and into the formal garden area



Temporary dry dock on the bank of the river



I know that trees fail, get smashed by wind, rain, lightning, floods etc...however the capacity of trees to reiterate their growth after the most catastrophic events continuing their presence as habitat and as living organisms never fails to impress and comfort when events do turn nasty.

I like to think that Walter Hill (the first curator of the Brisbane gardens and a major force in the natural sciences throughout in early Queensland) who planted the avenue of Bunya pines would be pleased with the resiliance of those trees despite all that has happened in the intervening years since the 1840's.

Flood waters in 2011 did enter the centre of the gardens backing up through the stormwater system without breaching the high bank...a pattern of inundation repeated throughout the riverside suburbs.

Just like the trees in the gardens I think that those Brisbanites who have lost most if not all of their posessions will begin to recreate their lives as best they can...in a way our human version of reiteration. 

Water Sensitive Urban Design

Firstly, many thanks to the community group blog Saving Our Trees for bringing the following youtube video to my attention...Far too often those of us that advocate for a more rational and informed approach to the mangement of our urban environment hear the reprise "Oh yes it would be great to try that but its really not practical"

The facts consistently show not only is it practical, it is truely cost effective (beyond any quartely return or monthly balance sheet) and represents an integrated solution to a vast range of very common urban problems....WATCH, ENJOY AND BE INSPIRED.....

  

Go and visit the video home page of the organisation behind the brilliant design and installations works on Elmer Avenue...TreePeople

Sydney Centennial Park

Sticking with last posts' Sydney location I would just like to sing the praises of Centennial Park I had a wonderful time wandering around the parklands watching puppies racing across open grassed areas 


The Paddington gates to the parklands



It really can be a dog's life sometimes



some parts of the park are really quite traditionally formal, not unlike a British Royal Park;

An avenue of Melaleuca not far from the Paddington gates - probably part of an earlier carriage way

Cycleway and footpath flanked on both sides by a mixture of tree species



A short chain of ponds near the more formal herbaceous beds



in other parts I found myself wandering myself amongst a very beautiful patch of Melaleuca.

There were almost enough larger established trees to satisfy my obsession with Veteran Trees (there are never really enough!)

Even on the walk back into the city centre there were more wonderful fig trees to be in awe of;

Then there were some wonderfully well treed streets of some Sydney suburbs, spending most of my working life on the Gold Coast I wonder if Sydneysiders realise just how lucky and blessed they are to be able to walk along such canopied streets as these...mind you I know only too well of the complaints from car owners regarding the seasonal gifts from London Plane trees - its true I have little sympathy for them..such debris is part and parcel of plant growth.