Reed

That’s a weird looking tree trunk. Too late. My head turned back to centre in time to adjust my steering, narrowly avoid a blissfully ignorant pedestrian. Smooth concrete tempted more speed. I resisted, letting my lack of enthusiasm for the destination dictate my pace. No need to pedal too hard, tertiary education could wait a little longer. The next approaching green was a little more aligned with my natural head position. A longer look; another unusual looking tree trunk, this one I was able to identify first-time. Umbrella-like fern fronds, supported by a thin black trunk are tell-tale features of Australian tree ferns.

My commutes along the Brisbane River this year were punctuated with these glimpses of the crafted and remnant landscapes surrounding the Queen’s Wharf development. The renewed public space has been under construction for a number of years which has given me ample time to build up a library of unfair criticisms and contradictory opinions. 

Slowing my bicycle to a standstill allowed me to inspect one of the brown blurs on my regular trips. The trunk of the blue gum (Eucalyptus tereticornis) I had seen in passing was clad in a densely twinning vine. Not ideal.

The story was much the same in the canopy; the trademark open form of Eucalypt leaves sealed by the exotic cat’s claw creeper (Dolichandra unguis-cati). Flanked by the Riverside Expressway to the South and the city to the North, this Eucalypt, the last of a tree once prolific in Meanjin and along the Maiwar, was all but dead..

Decidedly late for my lecture, I mounted my bicycle again and cruised through the open Queens Wharf construction site. Virgin lawns surrounded by construction fences, dotted with tens of thousands of dollars worth of trees loomed mere metres from the dying Eucalypt. Rigorously cared for to ensure success, the new mature trees lacked the invasive weed slowly killing their riverfront brethren.

Three years early, a similar section of the riverfront had been upgraded. Now open to the public, the crafted landscape was well received and awarded. Resting my back wheel against a low, concrete wall, the tree-ferns again caught my eye. One appeared to be almost entirely dead; absent of any leaves and seemingly just an upright trunk. The next closest one had an unwanted vine already traversing the ferny fronds. My right hand (well acquainted with secateurs) itched. A couple of quick snips would save this plant. 

As a gardener I saw an easy solution. As a landscape architect and member of the public, I saw neglect.  From a cost perspective, those two tree ferns would have been near the $1000 mark each and they barely made it three years. The cost of negligence, however, extends beyond monetary terms.

Climate mitigation is the defining issue of our time. Carbon, historically stored safely, is being released rapidly, contributing to a slew of other greenhouse gases that are heating the planet. Trees and plants store carbon and over time, they store more and more of the stuff, making them of the most proven tools for mitigating climate change. 

My experience with trees is less scientific. I like walking in parks with mature trees, I like visiting forests and hiking among them, I like travelling to foreign places with foreign trees and I find suburbs that abound with larger specimens far more appealing. In Brisbane specifically, summer is immeasurably better when you can walk or cycle through the cooling they provide.

For landscape architecture I believe the retaining of mature, native trees is the number one priority and should be the starting point of a design. Indeed one of the fundamental pillars of the AILA’s (Australian Institute of Landscape Architect) climate positive design action plan is to “Retain as many trees on site as possible”. 

My two wheeled drive-bys of the Queens Wharf Development speak contrary to this. A neglect of existing trees on site and a neglect of costly, recently completed planting. These plants will likely be removed or replaced in due course, a poor result so close to such a well-funded and anticipated project.

THE END