Recently we were walking through an ornamental parkland with huge specimen trees planted purposefully within the landscape. There was a cluster of non-native trees which were beautiful and mighty specimens, reaching high into the blue spring sky. Because this was not a natural landscape but a managed landscape the trees and other plants were tended and kept healthy, with pruning, trimming, and in some cases felling of the diseased or damaged. I guess it is these days a matter of health and safety, the managers of these parks do not want visitors killed or injured by falling branches. It still looks a little sad when you see a mighty specimen felled.
We came across this great tree lying prostrate and as we came to the cut end and the stump it was evident what was wrong, it was rotting from within and soon would become unstable. No doubt the timber would be used around the estate or even sold to carpenters and joiners and cabinet-makers. No doubt a new tree will soon replace the fallen one, and no doubt it will be enjoyed for years, maybe hundreds of years to come.
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Lois Elsden 