Tree and plant maintenance

Major maintenance 2024 - 2025

This winter, work is more extensive than usual in some areas. You may notice this in work along some of the main roads and the amount of greenery being removed. On this page we explain what we will be doing and why we are doing it.

Trees

All trees in Zoetermeer are checked for safety once every four years. Trees along main roads and some old trees are checked every year. We do not want loose branches or fallen trees to cause unsafe situations. Sometimes it is necessary to prune trees, for example to remove dead branches and allow trees to grow properly. If there really is no other way, a tree is cut down.

In several places, due to safety concerns, it is unfortunately necessary to replace some trees. The risk of blowing over or falling branches is high here. The removal of these trees will temporarily change the streetscape, but new trees will take their place. Below are some locations where several trees will be replaced:

• America Road
• Asia Road
• Australiëweg

Plants

Plants and shrubs stay alive longer when pruned regularly. It gives them enough space and light to continue growing. We thin out plants in some areas and rejuvenate in others. Below we explain what this entails.

Thinning out in stages

When we thin greens, we remove some of the plants. The part that remains gets more room to grow. We thin out the greenery in phases. We pay attention to the quality of the plants and the different species. In this way we minimize the number of large bare patches. Birds and other animals can therefore continue to shelter in the greenery.

Rejuvenate

In other places we are going to rejuvenate the plants and shrubs. We are doing this in 2 ways. In some places, the plants will be cut off at the ground. This will temporarily look bare, but in the spring these plants will sprout again and be rejuvenated. In other places, older branches are removed from the shrubs, giving young branches more room to grow. These plants thus partially rejuvenate. At the time of pruning, we determine which method of rejuvenation best suits the situation.

Woodland vine and blackberries

In several places, our plants and shrubs are bothered by woodruff and brambles. These grow against the plants and shrubs and sometimes even over them. To save our plants and shrubs from this, we intervene here. We remove the blueberry and brambles. This may create a bare picture for a while, but in the spring the plants and bushes will have room to bloom again.

You may encounter planting work and notice changes in the streetscape at the locations listed below:

• Australiëweg
• Asia Road

Recreational areas

Pruning work is also being done in the recreational areas. In Westerpark, extra attention is being paid to diseased trees. This mainly concerns ash trees affected by ash tree mortality. Because of this disease, the trees die and can fall down spontaneously. To keep the park safe for visitors, the diseased trees are being removed.

Flora and fauna check

Before we start pruning and cutting, we always check to make sure we are not disturbing or damaging valuable plants and animals. We call this the flora and fauna check. If valuable species are present, we work around them.