Today’s post is written with a heavy heart indeed…I dreaded going home today to behold the dismal fruits of the tree surgeon’s labors:  tree pruning, or lopping, as I’ve come to learn.

I’m no tree-hugger, but I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I literally wept this morning at the sound of the tree surgeon revving his saw.  I looked out my 2nd floor flat at the branches that were always eye-level—indeed filling our entire view out the giant sash windows with vibrant green leaves.  As those leaves rustled in the cool morning breeze, it looked as though they were waving goodbye.

24 plane trees, reduced “to point of last reduction,” per the borough council website.

Last night as my husband and I roamed to the opposite side of our square to lament the sheer ugliness of the stumpy trees (they look just like a horrid winter scene painting I made in 5th grade when I couldn’t quite grasp that branches should taper) a neighbor in the square informed us that this occurs every 7 years on this particular site.  Over those 7 years, a lovely growth of young branches had emerged, which we’ve enjoyed over the last 2 years; what leaves (pun intended) me sad right now is simply the thought of not getting to see them turn this autumn .  The leaves also soaked up a lot of street noise, as we noticed during the winters when their bareness created no buffer.

Thanks for listening to me whimper.  I’m an aesthetics-oriented gal and have enjoyed those trees and the songbirds that serenaded from their fine branches by mere virtue of dwelling in our flat.  My pensive moments writing at the computer that send me looking out the window for the right words to come might meet with a little less inspiration now…I just don’t know.

In any case, this phenomenon is something that I’ve first really come to notice to this drastic extent here in London and elsewhere in Europe.  In many-a neighborhood, you’ll encounter this shorn vegetation, which must be approved by borough councils pursuant to Tree Protection Orders (TPO); trees located in historic conservation areas are likewise protected.

I suppose these English gardeners know what they’re doing for the better of the trees, and sometimes it’s necessary to protect the buildings in close proximity—in our case, a Victorian church (which is luckily so pretty in itself), not that I’m sure that’s the reason.  I’m devastated that it’s happening in the middle of summer when they’re so lush, but I guess with all the trees in this beautifully green city, the workload has to be spread around all year, and the season of pruning is supposedly irrelevant to what’s best for the tree itself.  All we can do is cross our fingers that the trees persevere through the trauma, healing over to shield themselves from disease so that residents can enjoy them for generations to come.

I reckon when life gives us a good lopping, we grow stronger for it, too .

Where public gardens are concerned, you can't beat April for the flowers. Clever English gardeners mix annuals with perrenials.

In the ever fertile and growing cyber-world of online networking, my recent digging has led me to this plum of a blog:  The London Vegetable Garden (which can be found at http://londonvegetablegarden.blogspot.com/).

If you’re moving to London or already living here, a highlight of the city for certain is the amount of green space to be had here.  It is readily evident that the English love their gardens, even if it’s simply growing some herbs or topiaries out on the window ledges of their London flats.  London apartment buildings shed light on the true meaning of the phrase “garden flat” (in my hometown of Chicago, a garden flat simply translates to subterranean apartment with little light and certainly no outdoor space!), so it is possible to grab up a piece of that green land for yourself to cultivate, but if you’re having to be more creative than that, this gardening blog should be of great assistance.

The gardening center at Homebase is a great place to get started with your horticulatural goals–it’s on par with Home Depot in the States.  Once properly equipped, you can also join a community of fellow gardeners by signing in to The London Vegetable Garden’s associated social network on Ning, named London Gardeners.  I’m fairly new to it myself, but it appears to be a virtual cornucopia of gardening topics, so if you’re in need of advice or have some to share, visit http://londongardeners.ning.com/ and plant the seed…the discussion to follow is bound to be fruitful!

On a related note, if green space is your property priority, let us know here at London Relocation Ltd. so we can place you in a flat that has a garden, is close to the parks, or has sufficient balcony or window ledge space for plotting your potting