The Great Linden Alley in Gdańsk is a monument in both the colloquial and legal sense. It was founded between 1768 and 1770, which means that the oldest of the trees still remember the times of Gdańsk as a pre-partition city! About 100 such linden trees have survived. Further plantings were made around 1815, i.e. at a time when Napoleon Bonaparte’s star was fading. The lime trees in the avenue connecting Śródmieście with Wrzeszcz today were also planted during the period of the Free City of Gdańsk and after the war, during the communist era. Originally, 1,416 Dutch lime trees were planted over a distance of 2 kilometres – 354 in each of the four rows. In 1967, the Great Lime Avenue was entered in the register of historical monuments. Today, it consists of fewer than 600 trees.
Gdańsk saves age-old trees
As many as 369 trees of the Great Linden Avenue have to undergo specialised treatments to improve their health, as well as the level of safety on the carriageways and tram tracks running alongside them. The Gdańsk Roads and Greenery Authority has just launched a tender to carry out this work. The deadline for the submission of bids will be 26 September. Companies competing for this contract must demonstrate relevant experience – including in the care of natural monuments.
It is precisely the uniqueness of the Great Linden Alley that makes it impossible for every company to enter this tender. The GZDiZ started by commissioning a dendrological expert opinion to identify which trees are in urgent need of appropriate measures.
The search is now on for a contractor for the work. The aim is both to protect the trees, improve their vitality and stability and to ensure safety in their surroundings, as thousands of cars and hundreds of trams pass close to the lime trees every day.
A detailed action plan has been drawn up for each of the lime trees to be treated. It is tailored to the condition and needs of the individual tree.
At the outset, GZDiZ sets conditions to demonstrate relevant experience in carrying out dendrological work. The contractor must demonstrate that – counting from 26 September, the day on which the deadline for submitting bids expires – in the last three years he has carried out orders for work in tree crowns with a total value of min. pLN 50 thousand gross. In addition, he or she must show that 50 of the trees grew in areas entered in the register of historic buildings and at least 10 of them had the status of a natural monument.
Great Lime Avenue in Gdańsk. How to save the trees?
– 112 trees have been examined in detail, says Jakub Chorodeński, chief dendrologist at the Gdańsk Roads and Greenery Authority. – About 20 of them are in the worst condition and we need to trim them significantly.
Another 20 to 30 lime trees need pruning to bring about a rapid thickening of the crown in the lower part and a lowering of the centre of gravity, which will allow them to continue to grow and their surroundings to be safe.
The remaining trees require the removal of downy and mistletoe trees and a gradual crown lowering that mimics natural processes
The tender announced concerns a total of 369 lime trees. Its scope includes:
- carrying out a comprehensive crown inspection to check the stability of the branches,
- removal of dry and unstable branches,
- removal of mistletoe,
- lowering of crowns where loss and decay have been confirmed,
- reduction of dead and dying branches,
- crown pruning – both crown pruning to maintain secondary crowns (shoots in the lower part of the tree), crown shortening and crown withdrawal pruning
– In the case of some trees, we have to make visible cuts which will reduce them by 30% of their height, but this is the only possible solution, explains Jakub Chorodeński. – The alternative would be to remove the tree completely, so despite these seemingly radical measures, we are able to guarantee them another few years of life.
The tender specification also included the need to inspect each specimen for the presence of protected species in the crowns, branches and trunks of the trees. Detailed guidelines have also been drawn up to protect the valuable stand of trees, to prevent root damage and soil compaction within the Tree Protection Zone during the work to be carried out – this is the area around the trunk, which is under the crown of the tree and is to be extended by an additional 1 metre wide strip.
Bids can be submitted until 26 September and details are available on the GZDiZ Public Information Bulletin.
source: www.gdansk.pl
photos: phot. Łukasz Ogrodziński/ www.gdansk.pl
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