Here’s a great example of what can happen to iconic old trees when arborists and hard landscapers don’t get their heads together first ……..
This past week we were at Rottnest Island, just off the West Australian coast…home of the cutest little West Australian marsupials, the Quokka, it’s our Island holiday playground, where just about everything is recycled, wind power is in use, limited car and truck access, water is recycled and for the most part everything is heritage listed and preserved-except it seems maybe the trees!
This gorgeous Melaleuca lanceolata also known as Moonah or Rottnest Island tea tree and is a member of the myrtle family, myrtaceae. These beautifully sculptural trees are dotted all around the island and offer shade in what would otherwise be a very harsh and hot landscape.
This particular specimen is located in the beer garden at the Rottnest Island Hotel or the Quokka Arms as it is affectionately known  and as you can see-it has had a wooden box put around it for seating as well as synthetic turf and lots and lots of concrete…pizza with the lot you might say..and finally the poor thing has succumbed. Now, I have no proof that it was in fact the hard landscaping surrounding this tree have caused its demise but am pretty sure it’s given it a darn hard push!
What a great idea…seating around a tree-seems like a practical solution for additional seating in a public place, right? Beware…PLEASE check first before doing these things…you may find that the tree may not really like it…..
