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Hy-tex unveil new Eco-haven™ tree guards – the world’s first carbon negative fully biodegradable solution
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ccredited Supplier Hy-Tex UK launched their Eco-Haven™ Tree Guards in autumn 2021 and are now showcasing the unique features and benefits this product will bring to the ever-evolving landscaping industry. Eco-Haven™ represents an entirely new range of fully biodegradable but durable tree guards, shrub shelters and vine guards. They incorporate a modular design that makes them simple to transport and are easy to install and re-use.
ALL IN A DAY’S WORK WITH THE CULTURA GROUP’S 25 CANNON STREET
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ifting and planting large trees is all in a day’s work at the Cultura Group, even when said trees are being ‘slung’ over a seven-storey building and lowered into an access and space restricted area on top of an underground car park sited in the middle of the City of London.
And 25 Cannon Street is just such a day’s work. In partnership with contractor J Coffey, Cultura is carrying out a sensitive revitalisation of the public gardens which overlook the iconic St. Paul’s Cathedral. The works include new footpaths, new planting beds and the installation of seven large 2-3 tonne, 9 metre trees and is designed by Tom Stuart-Smith, specified for Magnolia Grandiflora, Pin Oak and Japanese Maples, which will create an established feel to this green space.
The challenge of installing the trees began with a long planning period, placing emphasis on the weight of the trees, the relatively small site footprint in Central London and the fact that there was an underground car park directly below with load bearing restrictions. Closing adjacent roads was not an option as this would have caused the heavy traffic use in this area
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LANDSCAPE NEWS WINTER 2021
to gridlock. Ultimately, this left Cultura with only one feasible location to site the mobile crane.
Working with specialist contractors, City Lifting, Cultura prepared the trees for lifting using slinging techniques designed to support the entire weight of the root ball without placing any stress onto the stem of the trees. Any load bearing on the trunk would cause permanent damage and subsequent failure of the tree. Utilising a 60 metre boom length crane, the trees were lifted, ‘swung’ (with just 10 metres of clearance) and lowered carefully to their pit sites. In collaboration with the landscape architect, the trees were positioned to ensure maximum visual impact and anchored into place using underground guying systems.
At approximately 50 minutes per tree to lift and plant, this element of the project was delivered quickly, professionally and with minimum disturbance to the surrounding users. Learn more about Cultura by visiting www.culturagroup.co.uk
The development of the tree guard put particular emphasis on its environmental credentials. After many trials and obstacles, including Brexit and the pandemic, Hy-Tex UK created the world’s first fully biodegradable tree guard that is carbon negative. Carbon negative is the reduction of an entity’s carbon footprint to less than neutral, so that the entity has a net effect of removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere rather than adding it. Being made from a plant-based biopolymer, Eco-Haven™ is also a sustainable solution and made in the UK. Hy-Tex’s ongoing commitment to the environment is one of the company’s core focuses, and the Kent-based company has pledged to support a wide range of tree planting schemes across the United Kingdom as 2022 approaches. They aim to do this by providing their tree guards, along with their Ecotex 100 Tree Mats - a tear-off tree mat roll. For more information on Hy-Tex (UK) visit hy-tex.co.uk
