Damaged trees in Radcliffe being replaced

New trees are on their way to Festival Gardens in Radcliffe in time for the summer.

During Storm Doris, three tall poplar trees were blown down at the back of the gardens. These were removed and a detailed survey was carried out at the remaining trees. This revealed that a large number of the poplars had white rot fungus, some were unstable due to the strong winds, and trees were nearing the end of their life expectancy.

A council spokesman said: “For safety reasons, we took the decision to remove all of the remaining poplar trees. Work on this should be completed in the next week and, after this, the remaining stumps will be ground down.

“We are planning to replace the poplar trees with a more suitable species of Hornbeam tree that will enhance the appearance of the gardens, and we hope this will be done before summer.”

ENDS

Press release issued: 24 March 2017.