Suspended Pavement for Urban Tree Growth
Urban areas can often be completely covered by one hardscape surface or another – which when not considered properly can mean a nonexistent presence of trees in cityscapes. Given the enormous social and environmental benefits of trees, urban landscape professionals should consider methods suitable for planting trees in urban areas. Suspended pavement over noncompacted soil […]
Urban Forests vs Woodland Forests
Trees are woodland forestry plants. As soon as we forget this fact, we neglect the necessities that trees need and are likely to make mistakes when planting trees in urban forests. A tree in a woodland forest has near perfect conditions; a sheltered microclimate, rich fertile soil with an abundance of nutrients and humus, uncompacted […]
Trees in Hardscape: Structural Stability vs Rootable Soil
Soil structure is fundamental for the planting of trees, as well as the stability of roads, buildings, and other infrastructure. It refers to two things: the arrangement of soil particles including silt, sand, and clay that aggregate together the void pore spaces between these aggregate particles In this article, we discuss why appropriate soil structure is critical […]
Amazon’s Trees Removed Nearly a Third Less Carbon in Last Decade
The amount of carbon the Amazon region’s remaining trees removed from the atmosphere in the last decade fell by almost a third, according to leading scientists. They continue by warning that man-made carbon emissions will need to be even more severely reduced in order to tackle climate change. Trees in untouched areas of the forest have been dying off at an increasing rate, […]
Signature Tree Drowns from Poor Drainage
A protected oak tree in the middle of a large shopping centre “drowned” from poor drainage, a builder of the site claims. Midsummer Place in Milton Keynes, UK opened around the great oak in 2000, but before long the tree began showing signs of stress from improper planting. According to sources, the construction crew wrongly dug out drainage […]
An Urban Treehouse That Protects Residents from Air and Noise Pollution
A potted forest of trees and branching steel beams disguise this 5-story apartment building in Turin, Italy. Designed by Luciano Pia, 25 Verde brings plants up off the ground in an attempt to evade Turin’s homogeneous urban scene and integrate life into the facade of the residential building. The undulating structure creates a transition from outdoors to in, […]
Soil Compaction & What It Means for Urban Trees
There are many aspects that need to be taken account of when planting trees in urban areas – one essential factor being soil compaction. It is important to determine site environment and soil conditions in order to mitigate the constraints of compacted soil and create healthy tree planting conditions. In previous blog posts, we have detailed the soil requirements of […]
New Zealand Memorial Park Explains Their Use of ArborSystem
View the below videos to learn how a memorial park in New Zealand used ArborSystem to ensure the new trees thrive at their ANZAC war memorial, and remain healthy for many years to come. Tree Planting Strategy & Use of ArborSystem
Making a Big Difference to Global Warming
Urbanized areas may only occupy around 2% of the world’s habitable land, but they are the biggest drivers of global climate change. Referred to as “urban heat islands”, cities are usually hotter than rural areas for numerous reasons. Traffic pollution creates a greenhouse effect that traps heat at night. While the cutting down of local trees means the lose of […]
Soil Requirements of Healthy Urban Trees
Trees require adequate supply of uncompacted, well aerated, and moist soil in order to thrive. These conditions enable tree roots to obtain all the essential elements they require for healthy growth – nutrients, oxygen, and water. These soil circumstances however, are often unavailable in built urban areas. In this article, we provide a soil quality definition […]
StrataCell Installation
The Canary Wharf Crossrail Station in London, England is set to be the size of One Canada Square (a 50 story skyscraper in London) laid on its side. GreenBlue is proud to announce the completion of this exciting development by our UK team. View a fast-forward video of the construction here. StrataCells® are soil support modules that […]
11 Tree Experts & Organizations You Should Know About
Local tree experts and organizations can be a valuable resource not only to landscape architects and contractors working on landscape infrastructure projects, but also to local residents. Tree professionals are likely to know about your local tree ordinances and other ways to protect and increase urban tree populations. Below is a list of the types of […]
Trees, People, and the Built Environment
There will be a urban tree research conference, taking place on April 2-3 in Birmingham. Three renowned experts in architecture, planning, urban ecology and sustainability will address over 400 delegates at the two-day conference. They will deliver the message that improvements to green infrastructure in cities and towns, and thus the lives of those living […]
Urban Air Quality
Rossa Donovan, environmental scientist for international consultancy WYG, has discovered a variety of trees that can improve urban air quality. The investigation was carried out using model scenarios to develop an Urban Tree Air Quality Score this was a applicable to all urban areas of the UK and other mid-latitude, temperate climate zones with common […]
How Trees Combat Temperature Rises in Cities
The vital role of urban trees in helping to lower temperatures in cities is described in a new publication by scientists from Forest Research, the research agency of the Forestry Commission. Built up urban environments can be as much as 9°C warmer than the surrounding area with buildings, road traffic and human activities all contributing […]
Quality Soils = Healthy Trees
It is now widely accepted by green building professionals that healthy trees play a significant role in successful green infrastructure systems in urban environments. Trees provide a wide range of benefits to society at-large and to the urban dweller in particular. Healthy trees reduce the urban heat island effect, help manage stormwater, reduce air pollution, […]
World’s Strongest Soil Cell
The GreenBlue modular StrataCell system is fast becoming the favoured suspended pavement system for tree pits in urban development projects – not only in Pacific region, but also in several countries around the world. And for several good reasons. StrataCells are structural soil cells that come in modular units, which can then be assembled to form a skeletal matrix […]
How Trees Increase Retail Sales
The importance of having trees in retail areas has been studied by the University of Washington (Wolf, 2005) which investigated the associations between trees and people’s response to shopping settings. The studies found that shoppers respond positively to trees in shopping areas, and that providing trees is an important investment for a retail community. The […]
With or Without Trees…
Famous landscape paintings have been recreated without trees by an Edinburgh University scientist to draw attention to the value of woods and forests. Dr Iain Woodhouse removed trees from Constable’s The Haywain, Seurat’s Sunday afternoon on the Island of Grande Jatte, and Van Gogh’s Olive Trees with Yellow Sky and Sun. He hopes his work […]
Trees Make Places Friendly
Trees make places work, look and feel better. As well as playing a role in climate management our neighbourhoods and supporting human health and environmental well-being, trees can also help to create conditions for economic sustainability and success. Lambeth in London offers a direct example of how trees have been implemented to create these exact […]
How to Ensure Sustainable Tree Growth in Cities
Over the last decade, the activities of numerous charities and public sector organisations have helped to put the creation of sustainable urban forests firmly on the agenda for politicians, policy makers, planners and landscape design professionals. We are most likely aware of the overwhelming amount of scientific research and evidence into the numerous benefits and […]
