The row of Fig trees on the boat harbour side of Tempe Reserve has always been an absolute favourite of mine for a number of reasons. A row of mature Fig trees beside the water is always a good thing. The trees created a fabulous & quite impressive entrance into the park. The trees are healthy too & produce stacks of fruit for birds & flying foxes, but the main reason why I loved these particular trees so much was that most of them had a natural shape.
Public trees with side branches are not so common in Marrickville LGA. I presume that for public liability reasons Council formative prunes most of the public trees. Unlike other Councils, they appear not to like street trees to cascade over the road, except in a few isolated occasions. Most of our public trees are pruned to have upward reaching branches.
The Fig trees in this section of Tempe Reserve used to have branches that cascaded downwards with some touching the ground. Bench seats had been skillfully placed so you could sit in the shade of branches that were a few feet in front of you & above your head allowing you to watch the lovely view of the boats while sitting in the shade. Other benches had full sun, so you always had a choice.
Not only was it extremely picturesque, but also the branches provided much needed shade as well as a break from the wind, which can be punishing in this park.
A large group of older locals, both men & women, come every day to sit, chat & feed the birds in the shade & the protection of the Fig trees here. They come all year round, except when the rain is too heavy. They never use the picnic kiosk area & when I asked why, they said it was too windy, too busy, too loud & too dirty. Here on the Fig tree walk as I call it, you have a great view, protection from the elements & most importantly, peace.
If you were quiet & looked carefully, you could often find shy White-Faced Herons under the Fig trees searching for food among the vast areas of woodchip. You had to look because they are experts at hiding among the low branches & would dissolve into the speckled shadows if they even thought you were looking at them. I’ve stood here unaware of two herons until they were pointed out to me. What I saw was glimpses of grey stepping behind a branch & as I moved trying to get a better look & perhaps a photo, the herons moved around the branch remaining pretty much unseen.
No more dear herons & so sorry to the older people because this area has been changed forever & not for the better.
Marrickville Council chopped off all the cascading branches of the Fig trees so that what is left is a wind tunnel where one can see from one end of Fig tree walk to the other, with the prominent orange lids of the garbage bins on full view.
No more sitting on a secluded bench because there is no more seclusion.
No more shade unless the sun is in the right position & certainly no more herons quietly dipping in & out of the shadows. I could have cried.
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July 8, 2012 at 6:38 pm
Helayne
This is another appalling example of Marrickville Council’s continued lack of thought about tree pruning. I know that area well and it was very lovely indeed; a mini forest of figs. Why do men with chainsaws have to “tidy” up the place (I suppose this will be the lame excuse) instead of letting trees grow naturally into their beautiful full canopies; figs branches are supposed to droop; for crying out loud!
We also see branches that fall from mature trees pruned back ‘neatly’ so no hollows can develop for bird or possum nesting sites etc. They need to spend money on training staff how to prune properly. People need to formerly complain about this stuff happening or these practices will not change!
July 8, 2012 at 8:02 pm
brenda
This row of Figs was stunning in its full glory and it is a shame that council was, in my view, heavy handed with its pruning.
July 8, 2012 at 9:29 pm
Adam
This is so depressing. How the author doesn’t descend into manic depression amazes me. This Council just doesn’t get anything right. I’m speechless.
July 9, 2012 at 5:24 am
Kristina
I’m also shocked by this. I don’t understand why council would do this. This row of figs was so lush & beautiful. Why don’t council redirect their resources to attend to the constant littering instead of ruining natural beauty. These low branches posed no threat, so why the need to prune?
July 9, 2012 at 4:17 pm
Bernie
The low hanging branches of the Figs provided constant protection for wildlife when gathering their food and did not harm humans. The decision to remove that protection is just cruel. I have difficulty finding another word for it.
September 2, 2012 at 5:30 pm
g.t.
I rode my bike here for the first time since reading this post. The last time I was here there was a row of fig trees, giving protection for birds, a buffer against the traffic from the highway, a screen from the large car park, a shady place to sit, a lush row of trees that was very rich. It was beautiful.
I was horribly shocked as I rode through this area.
It was like a welcome to the car park, and, welcome to highway noise. Actually it was easy to not even notice the car park before.There was no protected place to sit. You could see straight through from the car park, the slot car place, the Jets Club & the highway across the river. There was no feeling of a reserve of a place of natural beauty, or even of animal life.
I do not know what council were thinking of when they did this. But it is an appalling destruction of nature.