Great pains are being exerted to save the trees which were formerly part of the Capitol Hills golf course in Old Balara, Quezon City. Part of the golf course is now being developed into a premiere residential subdivision called Ayala Hillside Estates (AHE), with the other portion to be transformed into a newer golf course for Capitol Hills members.
In both projects, mature mahoganies and bauhinias are being relocated with great care and new ones are being planted alongside them.
AHE project head Thomas Mirasol says a major landscaping program will ensure that this lush pocket of Quezon City where nature symphonies are still heard would remain a green reserve. Some of the trees are at least 40 years old and have crowns that spread 10 meters.
"Amenities like these are almost impossible to replicate and therefore priceless," he points out.
Trees to be relocated are at least five years old. Mirasol states that to ensure a good survival rate, the extent of a tree’s root system is first determined. This is done by measuring the circumference of the tree trunk and then multiplying that number by 10. The product indicates half the diameter of the circle which will be dug up around the tree to ensure the integrity and well-being of its roots.
After workers painstakingly dig around a tree, they next extract the ball of soil held together by the root system, making sure the ball remains intact. The ball of soil is covered and tied up. Backhoes and other heavy machinery then do the yeoman’s job of transporting the trees to their preferred locations.
With the help of consultants, Ayala Land has mastered the science and art of relocating trees. Says Mirasol: "As a rule, we exert all efforts to retain the trees where they are. But it cannot be helped that some need to be relocated." A road network’s safety and efficiency, after all, cannot be sacrificed for a tree that would, for instance, stand in the middle of a major thoroughfare. In other instances, the company does not hesitate to bring in full-grown trees to enhance a development as it recently did at the newly-refurbished Greenbelt complex in Makati to the delight of mall-goers.
Foresters from the University of the Philipppines in Los Baños, Laguna are being consulted about the relocation of the trees. They observe that a tree’s root system is its most important part and point out that it takes a tree almost a year to recover from being transplanted.