
13 street trees planted along the verge on Davis Street Dulwich Hill. 7 poisoned alongside 1 property, the remaining 6 alongside another property left to grow
I was told that 7 out of 13 new trees on Davis Street Dulwich Hill were poisoned or at least, this is the suspicion because there was a smell of petrol & the trees died very rapidly. Great choice. Petrol kills saplings fast.
Marrickville Council tried hard here because they planted Red Flowering Gums & they planted them close together. I think this neighbourhood got really lucky to have this species of tree planted.
I admit to loving these trees because they look very beautiful & they flower profusely with gorgeous red or hot pink flowers that provide food for bats, bees, possums & all nectar-eating birds. This species grows to a medium height & is not likely to have a negative impact on the neighbouring houses because they don’t grow invasive roots or grow higher than powerlines. If they were allowed to grow, the street would look spectacular.
I hope that Marrickville Council persists with replanting the same species despite the malicious damage & the cost involved. We can only hope that
residents all over Marrickville LGA come to understand that street trees have multiple benefits on their quality of life & the value of their property. Vandalizing street trees also has a negative impact on nearby properties.
If people came to understand that property values escalate when there are good street trees out front, they may decide to take care of them & stop vandalizing them.
In today’s Inner West Courier there is a news item about a house that was sold in Concord. The opening sentence was: Set on tree-lined Ludgate St is number 15, a four-bedroom house in Concord -
http://inner-west-courier.whereilive.com.au/news/story/sensation-in-concord/
I’d be interested to know of any tree vandalism happening across Marrickville LGA. It’s one thing to be critical of Council for not increasing the overall tree canopy & another to have Council’s hard work destroyed by one or 2 people who do not care about their neighbours or the fate of urban wildlife.
The people of Davis Street are angry & they have good right to be. As they said, “What’s to stop this happening when the next trees are planted & then what will we have, a bare treeless side of the street when it could be so different.”


2 comments
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August 11, 2010 at 4:12 pm
GlitaGrrl
I thought they just weren’t watered enough the one close to corner looked like it didn’t have enough dirt to sit in…
But they were really poisoned.
Council has confirmed the vandalism and has also confirmed these trees will be replaced after summer.
When they are, I’ll look forward to reading about it here.
Thank you so much for keeping us all up to date. Even though this happened just down the block from us, I only found out the details here on your pages.
August 11, 2010 at 4:31 pm
Jacqueline
It’s very hard to keep up with everything concerning trees/environment that happens across Marrickville LGA, so I would appreciate a shout when the new trees are planted or something else happens that would be of interest. Thanks for leaving a comment. Jacqueline