The University of Greenwich is hosting\u00a0the University Urban Tree Pit Comparative Study in collaboration with\u00a0Hadlow College.\u00a0The research\u00a0is being led by landscape architect and university lecturer, Duncan Goodwin, whose research includes focus on determining the\u00a0environmental and social benefits of urban trees and the establishment of\u00a0green infrastructure.<\/p>\n
“For trees to become functionally useful within our urban landscapes, they need to establish and reach a state of healthy maturity. Unfortunately, tree planting is often seen as a piece of \u2018window dressing\u2019 to assist a design scheme through the planning process, with little or no thought about long-term requirements,”\u00a0he explains. “It is quite common for trees to be planted with\u00a0insufficient rooting volume, and as a consequence, tree roots explore moist and less compacted materials close to the surface and along utility excavations, which disrupt paved surfaces and other infrastructure.”<\/p>\n
This study investigates different tree pit systems currently available, which provide suitable rooting volume to enable street trees to thrive within urban hardscape settings.<\/p>\n
During the last two weeks of July, 12 tree pits were excavated by groundworks contractor A. Eastwood and, to date, GreenBlue Urban\u2019s\u00a0StrataCell<\/em>\u00a0and Bourne Amenity\u2019s Structural Tree Sand have been installed in six of the pits. This will be followed in mid-August by the installation of\u00a0Silva Cell<\/em>\u00a0from Deeproot and Cornell University Structural Soil.<\/p>\n The first system installed was GreenBlue Urban\u2019s\u00a0StrataCell<\/em>. These\u00a0100% recycled, lead bearing\u00a0\u00a0modules\u00a0clip together to form a structural matrix of cells able to support vehicular traffic areas. The skeletal system is then filled with soil to provide uncompacted rooting volume\u00a0beneath the pavement\u00a0above.<\/p>\n The second system was Tree Sand by Bourne Amenity. Tree Sand was originally developed in Holland during the 1980’s to provide growing conditions for trees in urban areas whilst avoiding problems with compaction from engineered paved surfaces.<\/p>\n The first product expected to be installed in mid-August will be the Deeproot Silva Cell<\/em>. This consists of a series of plastic crates topped with structural decks, which are able to support engineered pavements. As with the\u00a0StrataCell<\/em>\u00a0system, the crates are filled with soil to provide the tree with an accessible root environment beneath the pavement.<\/p>\n “We are really excited to assist the Greenwich\u00a0University with this project by providing space for the planting to take place,” says\u00a0Hadlow College horticultural department\u00a0head Sarah Morgan.\u00a0“It is a very important topic and will be a great teaching resource for not only our students, but for future specifiers of these systems.”<\/p>\n The\u00a0Tilia<\/em>\u00a0cordata<\/em>\u00a0\u2018Greenspire\u2019 trees used were supplied by Hillier Nurseries, and are to be planted in early December during National Tree Week. This long-term project will investigate various methods of ensuring adequate rooting volumes for trees in constricted urban landscapes.\u00a0It is intended as\u00a0a catalyst for raising awareness of the services provided for\u00a0trees in our urban landscapes, with monitoring and data gathering beginning in 2015.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The University of Greenwich is hosting\u00a0the University Urban Tree Pit Comparative Study in collaboration with\u00a0Hadlow College.\u00a0The research\u00a0is being led by landscape architect and university lecturer, Duncan Goodwin, whose research includes focus on determining the\u00a0environmental and social benefits of urban trees and the establishment of\u00a0green infrastructure. “For trees to become functionally useful within our urban landscapes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3409,"featured_media":18759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[361,375],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-research-na","category-soil-structure-na"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n