TERENCE REEVES-SMYTH,
Madam, - Gerry Daly's doubts about the suitability of planting rowans and flowering crab apple trees in O'Connell Street are welcome (The Irish Times, November 12th). There has been so much fuss about the very regrettable loss of the London planes, that few have focused upon the rather inappropriate planting scheme that is planned to replace them. I am particularly concerned with the plan to plant lime trees and understand some 300 are to be planted along the street as part of the Corporation's 1998 Integrated Scheme.
Few would disagree that the lime is a beautiful tree, but it really belongs in the country and dislikes urban environments. It is true that the lime or linden fashion was popular in towns during the 19th century, but this was because nurserymen discovered that they could propagate them cheaply and sell them to gullible town councils.
In fact the roots of limes are easily moisture-starved by tarmac and pavements, while atmospheric pollution corrodes their leaves, as their stickiness makes them collect soot and dust.
Consequently, the leaves of limes in urban conditions usually rust very early and start to fall in July or early August, while the bole of the tree will blacken with unusual severity. They look untidy in winter and of course there is also the matter of a nasty syrupy substance known as honeydew (often black) which falls from this tree in summer, staining cars, cloths and everything it comes into contact with.
London planes should continue to be planted in O'Connell Street, even if all the present ones are felled. It has been long recognised that these trees are ideally suited to urban environments. They are fast growing, easily pruned, grow in very poor soils, and can withstand considerable atmospheric pollution. They are also very long lived (over 300 years) and have a record of being remarkably resistant to falling over in high winds.
Besides these advantages, they also have a grandeur and dignity that never looks out of place in a capital city. - Yours, etc.,
TERENCE REEVES-SMYTH, Gelno Village, Co. Antrim.
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Madam, - I am appalled at the prospect of the proposed change of O'Connell Street into a mock French boulevard with lollipop trees and no bird life. To become an elegant street fit for an Irish capital, the plastic burger joints and other seedy shops should be removed (and ideally, cars also, making the street mainly pedestrian) and the present trees should remain. Those living trees are a much better monument to the millennium than a dead metal spike and "controlled" shaped trees which cannot compete in efficiency with the old established ones as a home for birds, as models of artistic beauty, as historical markers and as providers of fresh air to combat man-made pollution. - Yours, etc.,
MÁIRE McKAY, Clonminch Road, Tullamore, Co Offaly.
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Madam, - The trees at College Green taxi rank should be chopped down. They ruin the view of the front facade of Trinity College from Dame Street.
Sadly, however, the misguided tree-huggers with their padlocks and chains will probably ensure their survival.
I'm quite fond of trees myself, by the way. But there are some urban situations where they are simply inappropriate. - Yours,
DAVID JOHNSTONE, 32 Burnaby Park, Greystones, Co. Wicklow.