On the Trail of the Lonesome Pine

Have you noticed how rare coniferous street trees are in London? Take it from me, there are very few of them. Evergreens seem outnumbered by deciduous species, although more do seem to be appearing (such as the Strawberry Tree).

So what are the reasons for this coniferist state of affairs; are pine needles seen as dangerous by over zealous health and safety types? Perhaps conifers have been deemed too Christmassy, or do they just not fit in somehow?

I can think of lots of good reasons to plant more evergreen trees – broadleaf and coniferous:

• Year-round rainfall soaking-up
• Year-round pollution reduction
• Greater screening potential
• Better noise muffling

These ‘ecosystem services’ are useful but we should not overlook the benefits of greater diversity and therefore interest in London’s urban forest if more conifers were present…

The fascinating, beautiful and deciduous Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) is one conifer that does get planted with notable specimens outside Olympia, behind the High Courts and around the bottom of the Gherkin.

And then only a couple of weeks ago I bumped into a small Black pine (Pinus nigra) holding it’s own near Haggerston Overground station.

That encounter was followed by the discovery of a whole Pine micro forest in Dalston – a group  planted on a broad paved area at the corner of Dalston Lane and Graham Road. The trees are young and doing well, adding character to this otherwise bleak corner. Conifer identification is difficult, but I will tentatively say these are Scots Pines (Pinus sylvestris).

For those who would like to read more about the case for Conifers, check out this paper from the International Society of Arboriculture’s 2014 conference by J. Casey Clapp entitled ‘Conifers in the Urban Forest’

More Dawn Redwoods

The stately Olympia pair:

The High Court sentinels: