CHANGING THE SCENE
Trees are the great transformers – they define space, create atmosphere, attract wildlife and alter the microclimate. If you want to change your outlook instantly, plant a tree. A big one
BEFORE, rolling veld; after, forest. Johannesburg is an extreme example of the way in which trees can transform an environment.
Not that forest is better than grassland; the change had really begun with the mining village – dusty, sun-baked, windswept – that laid waste the veld. For shade and shelter, as well as fuel and pit props, trees were an absolute necessity.
The Johannesburg parks department now puts the tree count at about 10 million. More than four million of them are in private gardens, the vast majority of which would have been planted as saplings. Three or four years old at the most, they would grow with the garden and the children.
No longer. Most families stay no more than seven years in one house, often less. In high-density new developments, trees are more essential than ever and we’re a lot more impatient. Now you can bring in a large tree that will provide instant screening, shade and leafy luxury. At a price: what you are buying is time, in the shape of years of growth. Add to that transportation and planting, with low-loaders and cranes as standard equipment.
Moving large trees is no new thing in landscaping, but in the past 20 years or so expertise has grown significantly, along with demand. South Africans really woke up to the possibilities in 1991 when more than 6 000 large trees, including baobabs, were relocated to the spectacular new gardens at Sun City.
It was for this massive project that Treetraders, at the time a family nursery in Rustenburg, began sourcing and replanting large trees. Now based in Pretoria, relocation remains the larger part of their business. “More than 80% of all trees we sell were destined to be destroyed,” says Bossie Janse van Rensburg.
Recent projects include the vast new Menlyn Maine development in eastern Pretoria, where the company has lifted all the indigenous trees on site and stored them at a special nursery prior to replanting. “Developers have found that it’s cheaper to save existing trees rather than to cut them down and buy new ones,” says Bossie. (Visit treetraders.co.za for more info.)
In the Cape, Trees SA also undertakes relocations but most plantings come from its nursery, where trees are grown in bags ranging in size from 250 litres (about 3m tall) up to 4 500 litres (about 10m tall).
The company is constantly busy, planting for private clients, estates and corporate projects as well as a programme for the City of Cape Town that has seen the planting of at least 2 000 large trees in previously disadvantaged areas.
“Against the many thousands of small trees that are also being planted in these areas this doesn’t sound like much,” says MD Dag Willems, “but the instant transformation they bring has made a really worthwhile impact.”