Almost 3.200 trees were planted in the streets of Berlin alone last year. In addition, there are numerous trees in parks and on private property. As good as that sounds, young trees planted today will only contribute to a better city climate in later years. They literally have to grow into their role first. For our DSTRCT.Berlin in Prenzlauer Berg, it was therefore clear: instead of planting small young trees, we would rather plant ones that are already big. When the next summer comes, they will immediately provide cool shade.
And how exciting the planting was: we needed a special crane that could carry enormous loads – around 8 tonnes each of our trees! In addition, the crane had to reach an enormous lifting height: The trees were intended for the inner courtyards and had to be manoeuvred in vertically from the outside accordingly. You really breathe a sigh of relief when this weight suddenly hovers over the building in which we have all put so much heart and soul.
On top of that, there were unfortunately gusts of wind to be expected on the day of planting. In our video you can already see how the wind tugs at the branches and leaves until we finally arrive in the sheltered courtyard. Of course, we kept a constant eye on the weather and the ongoing forecast and, to be on the safe side, we didn’t use the last tree, but planned a new date for this one.
By the way, we decided on hornbeams. Reasons: They are native here and are considered robust. They are also beautiful, of course. In addition, deciduous trees are generally better CO2 stores than conifers. If we take the beech as a comparison, which is, however, expressly a different type of tree, we see that a single tree standing 20 metres tall and with a trunk diameter of 20 centimetres (measured at the height of a person’s chest) absorbs up to 800 kilograms of CO2 from the atmosphere. That is twice as much as, for example, a spruce with the same dimensions.
And 20 metres is not the end of the story. If the beech grows another five metres and gains more trunk girth, it can carry up to 6,000 kilograms of CO2. Such a tree would then contribute as much to climate protection as a two-person household would by consistently using green electricity instead of conventional energy for eight years.
