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identity_of_trees_walks [2014-08-19 17:24] – [* Silver birch, zilverberk, le bouleau verruqueux, betula pendula] rasa | identity_of_trees_walks [2014-08-28 18:40] – [* White Elms, Ormes d'Amérique, Ulmus americana] rasa | ||
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- | Friends: toads, bats | + | // Try to reach as high as the lork does // |
- | Duties: wood is used for fences, bats, staircases, telephone poles | + | |
- | Character: is a pioneer, | + | The larch stands for survival. It was the first species |
- | check story on tannine | + | |
+ | Larch is the only species of its sort that looses its leafs in winter. Unlike other trees and plants, larch did not evolve | ||
+ | |||
+ | Larch produces one of the toughest woods obtained from conifers and is also resistant to woodworm. It is widely used in construction, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Large quantities of resin are obtained by tapping the trunk. Small holes are bored into the trunk, most resin being obtained from near the centre of the trunk. When properly made, the same borehole can be used for 20 - 30 years. The resin has a wide range of uses including wood preservatives, | ||
// We thought of birth, when you walk on, think how is death present // | // We thought of birth, when you walk on, think how is death present // | ||
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- | dominant | + | // Feel the softness of its skin, enjoy its leaves |
- | duties: name: in German ' | + | |
- | character: very sensitive to the wind, low spread roots (vs oak), very thin and soft skin, shuts its trunk with leaves like a coat because otherwise it get sunburned | + | |
+ | Like the Birch, the Beech has a strongly feminine presence, but while birch is a " | ||
+ | Forêt de Soignes is known as the 'beech cathedral', | ||
+ | 38% of the Forêt de Soignes belongs to the Brussels Region, 56% to Flanders and 6% to Wallonia. Only Brussels has decided to keep part of the 'beech cathedral' | ||
+ | |||
+ | In German ' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Beeches tend to grow their leaves in order to cover all air above them and if necessary, they wear them as a coat along their trunks. This is due to the fact that beeches are highly sensitive to sunlight, and if they' | ||
+ | |||
+ | Being highly sensitive and very graceful, beech is thus also a very dominant species. Not many plants can stand the shade of the beech. And once there are some beeches present in a forest, the spread very quickly. | ||
+ | But one tempest or heavy winds can be enough to make the beech stumble. Unlike the oak, beech roots are very superficial. During walks in Forêt de Soignes, you'll encounter frequently a fallen beech with its roots standing straight up as a natural wall to climb. | ||
// As a ritual to end this walk and celebrate your membership, find a new place for that something you picked up // | // As a ritual to end this walk and celebrate your membership, find a new place for that something you picked up // | ||
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==== Start ==== | ==== Start ==== | ||
- | La Bourse/De Beurs at Boulevard Anspach laan in the centre of Brussels; you can reach this place by tram 3 or 4. | + | Café De Markten |
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===== A little introduction ===== | ===== A little introduction ===== | ||
+ | During this walk you will meet some of the arboreal persona that survive in the centre of this European, Belgian and Flemish capital. We use the word ' | ||
+ | We propose you to meet these rare co-citizens and help them out of their anonimity, by becoming friends with them and adopting them as part of your social network, speak about them as you speak about your friends and family, share their stories. | ||
- | During this walk you will meet some of the arboreal persona that survive | + | Ownership and management |
- | more humans than trees | + | The trees you will meet today are being taken care of by the Department of Green Zones of the City of Brussels. This means that they were probably only randomly taken care of before the completion of the inventory system that started in 2011. Newly planted trees have been registered since 2008. |
- | regional roads | + | |
- | city roads, different boroughs | + | |
- | different criteria to plant trees | + | |
+ | Because anything can be created and managed with language and stories. The legal system that rules our worlds is created with those tools. We manage our individual and legal identities every single day. So why would we not be able to create new identities, legally and socially, such an arboral identity for something as lively as a tree? By sharing their stories we make these trees visible as co-citizens, | ||
+ | |||
+ | Trees are our ancestors. Without trees we would never have existed. Trees are the former leaders of this planet and by now, every single human with or without power, knows that we will have to grant them their leadership again, at least partly, if we want to enjoy this planet for some more generations. | ||
+ | People moan about it, are afraid of the consequences it will have on their own lifes. But in fact, granting trees their authority again is not difficult at all. Just learn to reconnect to the energy of the tree, listen to the tree, and you will discover inside your soul all the knowledge, experience, ideas and values that are necessary to melt anxiousness, | ||
+ | |||
+ | // So put in your earplugs, breathe deeply, and slowly put one foot in front of the other. At La Bourse you will meet Prutske, our most legendary co-citizen. // | ||
- | ===== Enjoy the walk ! ===== | ||
- | Walk on the square in front of the hotel. Near the road you'll find a stand with the most famous arboreal persona of Brussels. | ||
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Fig tree, vijgenboom, figuier, Ficus | Fig tree, vijgenboom, figuier, Ficus | ||
+ | {{: | ||
- | ==== * Elms ==== | ||
- | the twins | + | Please meet Prutske, |
+ | And what a name. | ||
+ | Prutske is the Flemish Brussels word for 'a tiny little thing of no value' | ||
+ | If anyone knows the story of how this name was given, please contact bxl@fo.am! | ||
+ | Prutske has been registered since 2002, but we don't know his exact age. | ||
+ | The database of Remarkable Trees in Brussels has no legal value yet. The trees listed in here can be added by anyone, if only some criteria are respected. | ||
+ | The best way to greet Prutske is to take away some of the garbage that his roots seem to collect easily. Prutske is said to be in weak condition. So any love you can give in any form will be highly appreciated. | ||
- | ==== *Wild chestnut ==== | + | So what makes Prutske a remarkable tree? |
+ | |||
+ | First of all, Prutske is a rare migrant. His origins lie near the Mediterranean. A fig tree can only survive in a sunny area and when it is protected from the wind. The presence of this fig tree in the middle of the city centre can be called highly unsuspected and surprising. Secondly, following the database, it is the 3rd biggest fig tree of its species in the Brussels Region. And finally, you can observe fruits – sometimes dry – all year long. Prutske must be a cultivated fig tree, because in order to produce fruits, a fig tree needs the help of the fig wasp, a tiny wasp that cannot survive in our regions. | ||
+ | The symbiotical story of the wasp and the fig tree is beautifully portrayed in The Queen of Trees, Deeble & Stone, 2005. Watch on youtube [[https:// | ||
- | Leopold | + | // While you walk to the next tree, try to think of the kind of relationships and networks trees maintain in the city. It is very different to the networks of trees in the forest. But after all, just like human beings, trees are at the same time needed and needy. // |
+ | ==== * White Elms, Ormes d' | ||
- | ==== *Imaginary tree Dansart ==== | ||
+ | {{: | ||
- | ==== *Platanus | + | At the corner |
+ | // You can get to know these elms by watching closely for five minutes the silhouettes of their crowns against the clouds. // | ||
+ | |||
+ | They used to be three, a little sisterhood. The third was removed for security reasons in 2007. The reason is not clear to us yet. Maybe it was affected by the Dutch elm disease. This disease is caused by a member of the sac fungi (Ascomycota) and is spread by the elm bark beetle. Although believed to be originally native to Asia, the disease has been accidentally introduced into America and Europe, where it has devastated native populations of elms which had not had the opportunity to evolve resistance to the disease. The only solution is to cut the ill tree and burn it. In the long term they inject vaccins and cultivate hybrid elms. | ||
+ | |||
+ | All in all, these two elms resisted to long term pollution and illnesses. There heighth, their beauty and their scarcity have brought them to the Brussels Region Government, who voted on the 17th January 2008 for their protection. Looking at what this means, one could say that all trees of Brussels should be on that list: | ||
+ | |||
+ | a) It is prohibited to use, store or produce substances that can cause damage to the development and the growth of the trees, the fauna and flora and the water quality. | ||
+ | |||
+ | b) It is prohibited to place advertising panels. | ||
+ | |||
+ | c) It is prohibitied to light a fire. | ||
+ | |||
+ | d) It is prohibited to leave or store materials, rubble, waste, garbage and rubbish of any kind. | ||
+ | |||
+ | e) Normal maintenance of the tree (cutting dead or broken branches, taking care of wounds) is compulsory. One defines normal maintenance by the size of the broken or damaged branches whose section diameter in their insertion is not larger than 12cm. | ||
+ | |||
+ | f) It is prohibited to trench or highten the soil. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Read the full document (in Fr/Nl): [[http:// | ||
+ | Link to the database: [[http:// | ||
+ | |||
+ | Apart from being remarkable or preserved a tree can also be protected in the Brussels Region. There is only one such tree, a Lebanon cedar in the Avenue Palmerstonlaan. This is the only tree that cannot be cut without public permission and has to be replaced when it dies. | ||
+ | |||
+ | Remember that in German mythology our genealogy goes back to two trees. The first woman was created from the wood of an elm, the first man from the wood of an ash. | ||
+ | |||
+ | // When you walk on, we invite you to think of the fact that many trees live for more than several hundred years, some oaks even for six hundred years. These elms are said to be more than a hundred years old. If they could speak, what would they tell us? What has changed since their youth? And what kind of historical events did they live? // | ||
+ | ==== *Wild chestnut ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | |||
+ | Leopold | ||
+ | |||
+ | |||
+ | ==== *Imaginary tree Dansart ==== | ||
+ | |||
+ | {{: | ||
+ | ==== *Platanus the Court of justice ==== | ||
+ | {{: | ||
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