Remove roadside trees.

[go-tazz]

Another two young kids die by hitting a roadside tree:

http://www.mamamia.com.au/two-boys-die-in-altona-crash/

Isn't it about time that roadside trees are removed?

The amount of times I've heard people dying by hitting a roadside tree is ludicrous.

This is one simple thing to reduce the road toll,(the added benifit is that they could sell them for firewood).

Travelling from Katamatite to Shepparton is a nightmare as you are always looking at branches that overhang

the road and when it rains you watch the dead trees in case they topple,(that's apart from the big roadside

trees that will kill anyone that hits them).

Someone will die because of those trees,(most are Gum trees and one given with Gum trees is that sooner

or later they will drop their branches).

Report them and you get a thank you and that's it.

Nothing gets done until a branch or a tree falls and then it's just cleaned up,(once it's cleaned up there is no

sign that it ever happened),

[opmania]

Jimmy there is a wide range of bushes and trees

Suitable for hedging and some work much better

Than others.

We had a giant hedge made from native mallelueka

Trees out the front side of our house.

I had three left over that I planted round the back

And shaped as a feature round the fish pond and 

Kept them quite small by comparisson with regular

Trimming. 

A hedge is high maintenance though if your not

Really into gardening, but it does bring a sense of

Joy and considerable pride in the effirt

[go-tazz]

---

@opmania wrote:

I'm not really sure that a responsible

Driver should leave the road at high

Speed to avoid an animal.

Most times it's a reactive thing.

And I would also expect that a vehicle

Traveling at 100 kph, might roll after jumping

An embankment on the side of the road

In the absence of a tree. So in some cases it wouldn't

Make a difference if a tree was there or not

---

The highway sides around here are graded with the camber of the road,(most of the ones that leave the road

without hitting a tree here end up as if they just parked).

[colic2bullsgirlore]

hedges eh.....and that's how progressive our council is................

they've been using Lantana for roadside hedges for as long as I can remember up here

[imastawka]

Lantana is a noxious, invasive weed.

Very irresponsible planting

 http://www.weeds.org.au/WoNS/lantana/index.html#top

[colic2bullsgirlore]

lmao stawka .... I guess facetious copmments gets lost sometimes on the net 50% of the shire is rainforest..... the shire didn't

plant it they just can't stop it..... it was those pesky first fleeters.......

for our international posters

http://weeds.dpi.nsw.gov.au/Weeds/Details/78

^^^ The british thought that introducing this weed to be grown as boundary hedges to mark paddocks would be  a great

idea........ the Lantana certainly took on like wildfire

[serendipityricho]

Colic-great idea by the poms....like rabbits and foxes.......................................Richo.

[opmania]

On Lantana I'm pretty sure it's a state

Legislation and is not considered

Noxious in all states

[imastawka]

---

@opmania wrote:

On Lantana I'm pretty sure it's a state

Legislation and is not considered

Noxious in all states

---

 I edited and put in this link

http://www.weeds.org.au/WoNS/lantana/index.html#top

It's a weed - Australia wide

[zanadoo_56]

---

@opmania wrote:

The root of the problem lies not with the 

actual trees , but the type of trees

planted by the roadside.

Whilst eucalypts are native and 

Very koala friendly, unfortunately

the same can not be said for 

motorists. The most unpredictable

When it comes to falling branches,

Which can snap off and fall with little

Or no warning.

Might I suggest lining all major

Thoroughfares with rubber trees,

Making tyres cheaper and cushioning

The impact of an accident. 

Oops there goes another rubber tree

---

I've said there's nothing wrong with removing dangerous trees.

Mind you, good luck with that!  I have a tree on my nature strip that has periodically dropped branches (yes it's a gum tree) which the council planted before I moved in...and which they refuse to allow be removed.  They are happy to take away the fallen branches, plus they have chopped a few off before they fall but the tree is still here.  It looks terrible and admittedly there's not many branches left to fall off.  I'm amazed it is still alive.

There is such a thing as a (real) rubber tree...as in it's a source of natural rubber.  I presume that's not what you mean though. 😉

[zanadoo_56]

---

@go-tazz wrote:

---

@zanadoo_56 wrote:

Trees that are a danger (dropping branches, because of they are at the end of their life etc) are one thing, getting rid of trees because of stupid drivers is something else.

---

Gum trees don't have to be at the end of their life.

 Perfectly healthy Gum trees can/will drop their brances at any time,(that's why they have the nickname

 of being widow makers),

 We were playing golf and heard a loud crack and saw a "healthy" branch from one of the tree near the hole

 just break off for no apparent reason,(it measured nearly a metre thick and was over 8 metres long).

 The weight of that would've crushed a car and it would've being like hitting a brick wall if they drove

 into it,(that's why a gum tree that's close to a road and which has branches overhanging the road is so

 dangerous).

 We see broken branches from gum trees on a regular basis and the ground staff spend a lot of time clearing them,(there have even been times where an entire tree has just fallen over).

 http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/widow-makers-get-the-chop-as-leafy-suburbs-call-halt-on-damage-201...

 http://www.thegreynomads.com.au/dont-give-me-a-camp-among-the-gum-trees/

---

Blast it, I didnt realise it was going to have to spell it out (there was a comma in there to break up the sentence).  Sigh.

I know gum trees drop branches at any age (depending on the species). I've got one of the darn things on my nature strip.

I was just listing another reason they can be dangerous.  And here's another one for good measure - trees can keel over at the base in periods of prolonged drought.  That's what happened to a native tree in my yard.  Luckily it didn't hit the house (let alone a stupid driver).

Councils should not plant gum trees that drop their branches (and by now I would think they know what species to avoid) but if the trees are indigenous to the area and already there (especially along country roads) then the issue is not so clear cut.  One thing I know, there's a green leafy semi rural road I drive down every day....except in high winds and severe storms.  On one side of the road you can be bombarded with missiles (aka pine cones) and on the other side are deeply overhanging gum trees, some of which have come down in storms.  Best not tempt fate I reckon.