. . . and after removal of the remarkable branch because some rot had set in, an arboreal wonder has disappeared.

Berkeley Square, W1, 2011

The cross section of the branch showing the deep buttress of wood grown to support the great weight of the long branch and the beginning of rot at the hole on its top side.

Unfortunately, a decision was taken not to support this tree with props or braces, as sometimes happens . . .

Berkeley Square, W1, 2011

Grown from seed brought to Britain from the Caucasus and planted at Kew in 1846, this Chestnut-leaved oak, Quercus castaneifolia, is Kew’s largest tree at 31m wide and high. Despite thinning the crown of the tree every five years and removing 20 tons of material to keep it open and prevent loss of branches from wind, the gap in its form half-way up on the right of the tree’s canopy shows where it lost a substantial branch in June 2012.

Kew Gardens, June, 2012

Winds in June snapped this bough off Kew’s champion Chestnut-leaved oak.

Kew Gardens, June, 2012

Persistent rain over many days onto the heavy crop of flowers on this Tree of Heaven proved too great a weight for the weak structure of its main stem.

Barnsbury Park, N1, July  2012

The weight of its large boughs has meant this aged catalpa leans over and would collapse but for a series of props.

Victoria Embankment Gardens, WC2, 2011

This tree was blown down in a strong wind. Much of it had rotted as a result of much earlier dog damage to its bark.

Melgund Road, N5, 2011

The stump of the tree shows how little strong wood was supporting it.

Melgund Road, N5, 2011

Another stump . . .

Ronalds Road, N5, 2010

Strong summer winds felled this sycamore already very weakened by internal rot.

Fell at Highbury Fields, N5, 8 June, 2012

A tree of very modest size at the far end of a wide, good-looking but  otherwise treeless residential street.

St Paul Street, N1, 2011