Regular readers of this blog will know that I spend a lot of time eulogising about the wonderful trees to be found all over Hampstead Heath – and indeed there are wonderful trees on the heath. But not everyone thinks that all of them should be there.
Two hundred years ago the upper slopes of the heath were all but treeless – as the name would suggest and as this Constable painting from the 1820s shows.
When Humphrey Repton landscaped the Kenwood estate, lying just below Sandy Heath, in the 1790s he included carefully planted trees and lakes to give interest. But the focus from the house was the view over London – ‘the most magnificent that can be conceived’ – as this sketch in his Red Book shows.
As the notice on the Kenwood terrace tells us, ‘Repton moved roads, planted woods and redirected water courses to complement the house and make the estate seem endless. Before he began work the view towards London was already celebrated. He opened up the valley further and built this terrace as a viewing point. It looked towards a pond and resevoir, cleverly joined together to give the illusion of a wide river flowing towards the city.’
Well, the lake/pond/resevoir is still there…
..but you can scarcely see it from the terrace (it is just down there between the middle group of trees)…
..and no matter from where on the terrace you look, the view of London has disappeared behind a thick barrier of trees.
There are those who would like to see all those trees gone – but they are greatly outnumbered by the tree preservationists. However, the whole issue of tree management on the heath is a fraught one and has been for centuries – remember the objections to Sir Thomas Maryon Wilson’s plantings around his ill fated villa development at the Viaduct Bridge. Many are the campaigns that have been fought, and still are, on the issue.
For those who are interested in how the heath – trees, ponds, meadows, bogs and heath – is actually managed, see The Heath and Hampstead Society’s Heath Vision. It is now 15 years old but not a lot has changed.
The reason I thought of this was that yesterday evening I walked past the Viewing point above Kenwood. The evening sun was just catching the spiky buildings of the city, gleamingly white against the dark cloud above.
I think Repton would have cleared those trees in the near distance. With them gone we would have a much better view.
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Trees VS views. This is a common thread in many places. Often here in San Luis Obispo, which is hilly with sometimes awesome views…sometimes a homeowner will plant oaks or pines or some other fast-growing big tree…and as they grow up they then block the great views, the vistas, of the homeowner immediately above them. This is common and causes a lot of usually un-answered problems.
More often than not, the trees win out, and the view is lost.
My point: think twice before you plant a tree that will block others’ views…be considerate!
Yes, really annoying when it is not on your property! You will remember the garden at Lawn Rosd. One of the reasons I was not that sorry to leave it was because the trees on the right hand side in the garden of the flats next door had got so large that our garden was becoming quite coffin line.
You so often see it with magnolias – well here you do. People plant a nice little magnolia in their front garden becuase it ash such lovely flowers (for one week out of 52) – and 20 years later they wonder why their house is so dark. Because they now have this 30 foot high dark tree taking all the light from the front of their house.
One of the most common discussions I have with my gardening customers is that of garden direction. Many move into a well constructed garden that has been carefully planned and tended over the years. The weight of responsibility is what to keep and what to remove. Even on a much, much smaller scale than Humphrey Repton a garden must be suitable for its current use. Over time, plants mature and gardens change. Mananging which aspects are positive and which aspects are detrimental is the biggest challenge.
And surely that is one of the most fun things about gardening, Emma – that things move on and change – but that it can be done gradually. And, rarely is a mistake as disaster as, if your stunning new idea/plant doesn’t work – you can try something else next year!
Exactly. As time passes, views change, situations come and go. Gardening allows you to look at small details and big vistas.