Thankyou Ekka for the time and effort putting together those great photos, its amazing how removed from reality news reports can be, 2 trees crusing two cars!
For the record Ekka is spot on about the age of these lovely trees
http://www.epa.qld.gov.au/projects/h...=602402&back=1
scroll down and you'll find the reference to the planting date of over 100 Jacarandas 1914. Now just so we're all clear I do not put any tree above the value of one human life, however I am extremely passionate about our historic trees....might seem odd to any of our European site members getting all emotional about 90-100 yrs old trees but in Oz they are (with few exceptions) our settler history and it does matter.
The council had removed the upper canopy but here a shot from a German tourist back in 2006 of the same line of trees,
IMG_3243.jpg
A few points come to mind from Ekka's photos the exposed and torn stem/root tissues look suspiciously like numerous trees I've had the misfortune to autopsy here in Townsville as a result of
Ganoderma sp overwhelming the root system, but trying to make accurate diagnosis from photos is pretty silly...
The older a tree gets the less able it is to withstand any external pressures, be they biotic or abiotic in nature, these Jacarandas whilst a long way short of the potential life span 200yrs+ are in a very altered soil environment and reliant on very uncertain water, nutrient and soil elemental cycling. It seems an all too common response to aging tree populations to get out the chainsaw and start reducing the percieved problem, however for me the solution to the understandable public concern at percieved threats from aging trees, is to implement Plant Health Care PHC, deal with the real problems in the soil that are challanging the tree's genetic ability to continue to produce reliable healthy growth.
You could argue that these trees are too close to the kerb, that the visible lean in each of them necessitates some reductive pruning, and maybe if you got me on site I'd agree...maybe.
I just really hope that BCC recognise the great value these historic trees have, and give that significant consideration in the decision making they will carry out with regards the New Farm Jacarandas.
Thanks again to Ekka for going out of his way to provide us all with the pics and the accurate info.
