On Trees and Allotments

From skylines, down to earth again; the Daily Telegraph on 13th October reminded us that on 15th and 16th October 1987 19 people died, three million houses were hit, and 15 million trees were blown down in the south of England in the Great Storm.

At the time it seemed an unmitigated disaster, but 20 years on most of the landscape scars have healed, and the opening-up of over-mature wooded landscapes has allowed both assisted and natural regeneration, leading to a healthier age-spread of trees. Many trees that survived the literal shaking up flourished better than ever, leading to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew's investigations into the benefits of breaking up the compacted soil around trees roots to encourage mycorrhizal activity. Trees have been having a hard time over the last few decades, and no doubt it was always so, but this year's wet summer after several years of near-drought seems to have left most trees looking much healthier than they have appeared for a long time. Horse chestnuts, while again affected by the leaf miner moth, look better than they did at this time last year (i.e. mid-October), and after the wonderful frost-free spring, many fruit trees have produced record crops. Vegetables and other crops have had a more mixed success, and soft fruits were a disaster, but vegetable gardening has been promoted in several ways this year. Kew planted out the formal parterres in front of the Palm House over the summer with a dramatic display, both sculptural and colourful, of edible fruits and vegetables. The Royal Parks staged their "Dig for Victory" allotments and exhibition in St James's Park. The allotment holders of Manor Garden allotments, turfed out, or perhaps more literally asphalted over, for the 2012 Olympics, have been offered a new site after a fierce and high-profile battle: "Picture an area the size of three football pitches. Fill it with a patchwork of plots and families working, laughing, drinking, as braziers smoke at the fringe of their alfresco dining-rooms, cooking produce before dew has a chance to dry. This hard-scrabble Eden, populated by friendly Turks, Cypriots, Italians, West Indians, Kurds and East Enders, brought a taste of the exotic home" (Telegraph Magazine 13th October 2007). Could productive allotment gardens, or the sort of detached weekend gardens to be found on the outskirts of many continental cities, be a solution to the problem of uncared-for and underused ground in some publicly owned parks?

Part of the wailed gardens at Chiswick House is now successfully and enthusiastically cultivated by schoolchildren, and Brockwell Park in Lambeth has a small plot with a greenhouse where the Friends can grow vegetables and flowers, but parks such as Gunnersbury Park and Cranford Park have large neglected areas where, given the political will and the right management régime, local people could grow their own food, with all the benefits that that implies.