Replacing and Rejuvenating Trees at The Gherkin

Hortlands were appointed to provide specialist work on the trees that surround The Gherkin building in central London, including planting of new trees.

This project was split into two phases of work, rejuvenating trees and planting a large semi mature tree. The first phase was to start the rejuvenating. After many site visits, logistics preparation and lots of planning, our team were able to get onsite and start the rejuvenating work. The trees outside the building were not in the best condition and struggling to survive in the quite harsh conditions of the urban location. Some unfortunately had gone past being able to be brought back to good health, so had to be replaced. We replaced them for new, healthy trees that can withstand their urban surroundings. And for those that could be saved, we carried out aeration treatments on each tree. For this particular project the most effective rejuvenating treatment was to fit an air tube around the tree, underground, leaving a vent open on the ground surface. This allowed the tree’s roots access to fresh air, while not being blocked by soil.

The tree planting phase was slightly more difficult and took even more planning and exact workmanship to make sure the job was done correctly. We hired the help of Phoenix scaffolding and lifting to get the largest tree into place, taking into consideration the very small space we had to work in. Phoenix have a very impressive, maneuverable crane that can lift heavy loads in restrictive areas, making the job slightly more straight forward. Once the tree was in place our expert team got to planting it.

The tree that was planted was a Dawn Redwood – Metasequoia glyptostroboides.

We then installed appropriate irrigation systems to all the trees, new and old, to make sure each tree had access to the right amount of water it needed. This was integral to the success of the trees establishment going forward, due to the built up area in which the trees are situated.