Neglected Trees
Many of our new roads are beautified, so far as such a black ribbon can be beautified, by lines of trees that have been carefully selected and well planted ; but there are some lamentable exceptions, especially in the Midlands. Both trees and shrubs have been forgotten after planting ; and like Topsy they have just " growed " (or not growed) as accident might determine. There are stretches where local people are distressed by the collapse or stunted appearance of the trees. The worst sin of omission has been the omission of stakes, for the prime enemy of the transplanted tree is wind ; and a tree once loosened at the root seldom recovers. Local bodies as well as such an organisation as the Roads Beautifying Association might well make periodic surveys of the trees. When ill-cared for, they make the roadside not more beautiful but much more ugly.
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