August is the new word for autumn in Birmingham

AUGUST is the new word for autumn in Birmingham – with many of the city’s trees already starting to turn from green to gold.

But beneath the eye-pleasing mixture of colours lies a deadly new twin threat to our suburban, green heritage.

To see how different parts of the city are reflecting the current season I went on a 27-mile journey around the legendary No 11 Outer Circle bus route. From Bromford through to Acocks Green, Hall Green and Kings Heath, the trees are showing early signs of turning yellow.

Over in Grove Park, Harborne, some newly-planted silver birch saplings looked strikingly white against a very dark green background of mature trees. And in Witton, the magnificent weeping willows alongside the River Thame were still holding on to summer.

Despite its misleading reputation as a “concrete jungle”, Birmingham claims to have more trees than any other city in Europe.

But the big worry now is that thousands of horse chestnut trees are under a twin threat. While they are adding to the autumnal effect at the moment, they could prove fatal in the medium term.

Simon Gulliver, plant collections manager at Birmingham Botanical Gardens and Glasshouses, said: “In general, autumn is coming two weeks early this year because of the sunny spring and long dry spell.

“Some species will rest before the proper autumn, others close down and go to sleep early.

“All plants are different because it depends where they have come from and they respond to the differences in the British climate in different ways. Trees like the American oak which grow away from the coasts in continental North America and China will colour up well this autumn.”

But it’s the horse chestnut ‘conker’ trees he’s most worried about thanks to leaf mining flies and a fungus-like pathogen.

“Horse chestnuts are being hit by leaf miner and bleeding canker,” said Simon. “We’ve never had either of these diseases before and the combination of these could be fatal for many of the trees because it won’t be good for them to keep losing their leaves too early.

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