107. Kensington Postbox Tree

Humans often fail to comprehend just how big trees will grow, as an Edwardian plane tree in London demonstrates.

On the corner of Drayton Gardens and Priory Walk an Edwardian post box is being consumed by a London plane. The tree is making good progress, but despite its insatiable appetite, the postbox is still in use. Planes seem to have a propensity for consuming human made objects, or perhaps we humans put things too close to them, not realising how fast and large they grow. 

Species details

London plane
Platanus × hispanica

Where to find it 

Priory Walk, London SW10 9SP
///surely.fries.tries | 51.488586, -0.181198

Exciting book news!

The third edition of my book, London’s Street Trees – A Field Guide to the Urban Forest will be published imminently. In fact, some online stores are showing it in stock already, but if you’d like to buy a signed copy directly from me, I’ll be shipping them in mid-July. 

The new edition features more pages, more tree species and more features about London’s urban forest. One of the species to be included for the first time is the Lemon, represented by a single tree growing on a Shoreditch street which featured on my Substack a few weeks back. There’s also a feature about the ‘Great Street Trees of London’ including this curious postbox-eating London plane among many delights throughout the city.

Another greedy London plane

83. The Hungry Tree