(Israel Ministry of Agriculture)

It is not rare to encounter crooked sidewalks raised by tree roots that endanger pedestrians or tree roots that have penetrated pipes, drain pipes, and the sewage system, resulting in clogging and flooding. We can also see trees that no longer develop or grow after several years, trees that fall in strong winds or those that atrophy and die.

Why does this happen? Trees lining city streets are planted in an unsuitable environment. As a result, their roots lift sidewalks and other infrastructures in their search for air and water, creating dangerous conditions on city streets, or no longer growing and developing.

To solve this problem, the Forest Commissioner in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development established a planning and steering committee along with Yinon - Planning, Consulting and Research Ltd. and Berger Agronomists Ltd. and in cooperation with the Landscape Division in the Ministry of Construction. The team developed the first model in Israel for a habitat for planting street trees, paving the way for city trees that will be planted in the future.

The method, adapted from a large urban renewal project in the streets of Stockholm, calls for pieces of rock spread under the top layer of the sidewalk, preventing it from sinking, while at the same time providing proper ventilation and penetration of water to the roots. Soil suitable for growing the tree is placed between the rocks.

In addition to the in-built advantage of a habitat that does not “lift” the sidewalks, another advantage of the method is that trees can be planted about 10 meters from each other. Accordingly, relatively large trees can be planted that will provide a strip of shade along the entire street, within a short period of time. Thus, complete shading can be obtained in the streets within 5 years, compared to double the time and even longer when planting trees in planting holes, the method used until now. It will also save on sidewalk maintenance as municipalities will no longer need to maintain sidewalks on an ongoing basis, replacing sidewalks destroyed by tree roots or replacing trees that have atrophied.

New national projects will be required to use this method when planting trees. Thus, for example, as part of the works of the Light Rail route in Tel Aviv, the Metropolitan Tel Aviv Mass Transit System is required use this method to plant trees along the route.