Central City riverbank tree replacement strategy
'White Rot' caused by the fungi Ganoderma applanatum.
The aim of this particular strategy is to promote a long term vision to ensure that the collection of trees in the central city is maintained, replaced and increased in a condition that supports the growing city as a venue for many cultural and business activities.
A major component of the Central City’s identity and heritage is likely to be compromised over time if there is no clear tree management plan.
A survey of all 786 trees on the riverbank corridor from the Antigua boatsheds to the corner of Kilmore Street and Fitzgerald Avenue revealed the presence of various diseases and signs of over-maturity in a number of specimen trees.
This report suggests the replacement of 90 diseased, dead or declining trees from the river bank until the year 2010. From the year 2015 onwards this forecast suggests the replacement of 161 trees and a further 176 trees by the year 2020.
Restoring and improving all sections of river bank plantings in a holistic and sustainable way, at the same time as general tree maintenance, is a very successful way to ensure that individual sections of the river bank reach their full potential in the overall green space design of the Central City.
Objectives
Deformed root systems can cause premature death by girdling roots that restrict trunk development.
The main objectives of this strategy are:
- To undertake a visual tree inspection of all the trees on the river bank in the central city.
- To inspect all trees for structural integrity and the presence of serious diseases.
- To estimate the life expectancy of all specimen trees and forecast their approximate replacement period.
- To establish a removal and replacement strategy for declining and diseased trees that is beneficial to the health and safety of the public and other surrounding vegetation and structures, without creating a major aesthetic impact on the landscape as a whole.
- To establish the number of predominant tree species for the evaluation of their positive and negative contribution in the landscape.
