That the trees are preserved is the success of the entire neighborhood. That is the most important message according to local resident Tarek El-Baradi. From the moment that it was announced last year that the thirty trees were on the hood of the municipality, the neighbors involved the heads together. That led to an app group, a flyer action and ultimately the preservation of sixteen poplars.
Not the municipality came up with the idea for the alternative pruning method, but the local residents themselves. It is not yet happening in Stedelijk Amsterdam. With fracture pruning you boots a kind of storm. The branches are then broken down instead of neatly sawn off. “In this way there will be a larger wound surface where new branches can develop,” says tree expert from the municipality of Marina van Hamel.
In addition to the fracture pruning, the mown lawns around the poplars make way for a soil with herbs and plants that therefore get enough nutrients.
The Netherlands is watching
If it works well, it can be groundbreaking. Not only in the Netherlands, but in many more places in Europe. “My tree colleagues are watching and are curious what this will do. This is the first time it has happened in a capital such as Amsterdam,” says Van Hamelen.
And not only for the trees this is good, it has made the neighborhood closer. “We didn’t really know each other for this and now. It is a success for the trees and a success for the neighborhood.”