Expert Calls For Novel Approach To Planting Trees

With the summer typhoon season approaching, tree safety in Hong Kong is again coming under the spotlight.

Last year, tens of thousands of trees were damaged when Super Typhoon Mangkhut hit the SAR. A tree expert, Jim Chi-yung from the Education University, said replanting them requires "innovative" ideas, especially in a crowded city like Hong Kong.

One, according to Professor Jim, is to widen the tree pit, the underground soil area for tree roots.

Traditionally, tree pits have been small and built separately from one another. And a single tree was planted in each.

Professor Jim said this seriously inhibits the health of the trees and makes them extremely vulnerable.

He said the pits could be connected with a sub-surface soil corridor. That would widen the soil area and improve the stability of trees.

Another idea is to build underground support structures where they could be filled with soil – rather than concrete – for roots to grow.

The university's Research Chair Professor of Geography and Environmental Science also called for the use of higher-quality soil. He said the poor quality of soil used has been a big problem. In many cases, he said trees were grown in construction rubble or extremely sandy conditions.

"These solutions are not difficult to implement, so I really hope that the government will not just follow the previous practice and just replant the tree in the same old way," he said.

"This is really a golden opportunity for them to depart completely from previous practice."

And to boost public awareness on tree protection and conservation, the Education University has launched a mobile app to teach students and members of the public how to assess the health of trees with the naked eye.