fitch

Pruning an oak tree once it gets big enough that we realise it may be about to block the view would need tree surgeons. Who would pay for that? It's much better not to plant them in the first place. A lower growing tree would be much better.

i fear you may be right. By the way, you're not Spartacus, I am!

Does anyone know why the council is going to resurface Upland Road next week? The surface seems perfectly fine to me.

My view of the new saplings which have been planted on the hill is first, great, but second that one of the main attractions of the site is the view and any trees planted need to be placed where they will not block the view when they are mature. There's an open area where people can toboggan and species of flowers that need open spaces can be allowed to grow that I think should be left clear.

No. The guy who came to the door was about 35-40 and coincidentally (?) someone else came today, looking very efficient, with a smart looking brochure asking the same question. In retrospect I should have looked at his brochure but didn't give him enough time to show it to me. I'm not saying they were connected, but the missing guttering is at the back of the house and although it can be seen from the road you have to be looking pretty hard to notice it. Maybe I'm getting paranoid.

It's great that there are new pavements round the bottom of the park, but it must have cost a fortune. Generally speaking the Parks department is great but I've been walking round the park for donkeys years and they've never bothered me. Was it money well spent? Or was there a special reason for doing it?

On Tuesday an Irish bloke rang the doorbell wanting to know whether we needed any guttering replaced. We did and like an idiot I let them start. A couple of blokes turned up, one who called himself Matthew, and proceeded to literally rip off the guttering, the fascia board and the timber underneath. They then said that the rafters were rotten and when I took a look there was absolutely nothing wrong. When I started shouting at them and almost went to fetch a blunt instrument they ran off leaving us with a shambles on the ground and having to find someone to repair the damage. Okay, I was a complete plonker, but please don't make the same mistake.

Why not give a ttal business rates holiday to any business doing something remotely useful, and make up the shortfall by doubling the rates on coffee houses? It seems to me sometimes that the almost the entire economy of London consists of people selling overpriced coffee to each. On that subject I had the best latte I've had for years in a Portugese deli in Stockwell/Oval borders and it only cost ?1.

Hi Bella, I think that whole edge of Dawsons Hill was being overrun by suckers from those cherry trees so the council removed them. It seems a bit unfortunate that any route into the blackberry picking area next to it seems to have been blocked by sawn off branches though.

If anyone is interested to meet and discuss the fruit trees up on Dawsons Hill, Ella Hashemi from the Orchard Project is coming tomorrow, Monday 20th Feb at 3pm. Sorry such short notice, but if you can make it come and have a chat.

Hi mynamehere, The council came to remove all those cherry suckers that had spread onto the open area lower down Dunstans road side, and where that massive suckering lot used to be towards the top just below the path, at one time there was just a single cherry tree. A few years ago some lowlife vandal came and cut it down about two feet above the ground causing it to spread, probably in an attempt to survive, The resultant clump of suckers were seriously blocking that amazing view, so out they had to come. Down by Dunstans road someone had planted a London Plane before all those suckers appeared. In all the excitement of removing them the council workers failed to notice that it wasn't a cherry, despite its having blue paint put on it's trunk in anticipation of this clearance. Perhaps it is for the best because had it been allowed to grow to full height it would have seriously impaired the view.

Well do you think a Dulwich rat would be seen going to Lidl? Nay, nay, & thrice nay!

The figure is actually ?2000, and the grant is for further planting and maintaining trees up there to create a mini arboretum, and recreate the orchard which used to be there. The plan is to restrict the trees to natives, of which there are already many, so if anyone has views on how to further this project, which is being done in collaboration with Southwark Parks Dept, get in touch, and maybe we could get together over a pint (or two!). By the way Dimples, there is already a quince, and there used to be a mulberry, and a crabapple, both of which were vandalised. Unfortunately a certain amount of ill will and ignorance towards plants seems to exist in some people. Not alot we can do about that.

Anyone interested in getting involved in decisions about planting/maintaining the trees up on Dawsons Hill?

Thanks, Rod! The middle classes are backbone of old Blighty>