Tilia Cordata ‘Streetwise’

‘Municipal’ is a horrid word so we’re campaigning for a better one. Perhaps they landed on a corker with ‘Streetwise’. Tilias are a tree entwined in our pavement lives, and my whippet has conducted his essential daily affairs at the base of countless magnificent ones. While he does so, I enjoy looking up, dreamily, through their lovely leaves mainly to enjoy them but also to avoid locking eyes with said whippet who will insist on staring at me with his leg aloft.

‘Streetlife’ is an even nicer form of Tilia cordata and has a neat and slender habit. Much neater than the standard ‘cordata’ in fact. It does have precisely the same velvety heart-shaped (‘cordate’) leaves that are deeply-darkly green and seem lush and verdant whatever the weather. This foliage will then go a splendid buttercup yellow in autumn. All this prettiness belies the tough constitution which makes it perfect for street planting and they’re manageably-sized, too, reaching around 15 metres in height x 10metres in spread.

Just to (gently) hammer in one of our earlier points, the resilience and tolerance of any Tilia is worth emphasizing because once they’re established they are extremely tough and manage just fine through droughts and hot weather: and they seem to revel in urban settings. Good news if you’re working with us to establish a new garden and are as mindful as we are about extremes of climate. We’ve seen them plonked into feeble little fissures in Tarmac and concrete by various councils over the years and by gosh these things are tenacious.

‘Streetwise’ is a stout candidate for avenue planting where we find its even, cone-ish shape to be strikingly architectural without much intervention needed. A pair en guard at your driveway gates, or a quartet en quadrille to define the corners of a formal design will deliver that lovely flourish of grandiosity that won’t involve you scrambling up and down up a ladder every month to be kept neat.

Happy on most soils and any aspect, but does need shelter from strong cold winds. Once established it can tolerate periods of heat and drought admirably. Despite looking soft and appealing to munch on, the thicker foliage is remarkably discouraging to aphid attack. Another win.

Approved by 100% of South London whippets. 10/10.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well-watered when first planted.