‘Timber!’: Tree planted in Wan Chai by former Hong Kong governor Chris Patten in 1993 gets felled

A tree planted by Hong Kong’s last governor Chris Patten in 1993 at busy district Wan Chai has been felled, with the former leader speculating that it may have been due to its “poor shape”.

Workers used electric saws on Saturday to cut the three-storey tall barren weeping fig at the junction of Luard Road and Johnston Road.

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department said on Saturday evening that the tree had been infected with fungus and that its health deteriorated since typhoon Saola hit the city last September.

It added that staff had carried out maintenance work such as loosening the soil, laying organic mulch, watering as well as applying pesticides and fungicides.

But the tree was still assessed on February 19 to be beyond salvaging and posing a safety hazard to the public, therefore it was removed on Saturday.

In a reply to the Post’s query on the removal of the tree, Patten said: “I have planted trees all over the world including Hong Kong and my own garden and cannot remember all of them.”

“Presumably the tree was in poor shape. It happens. Clearly any other reason would be too silly for serious people to contemplate,” he said.

Education University research chair professor of geography and environmental science Jim Chi-yung said the tree was destined to be doomed.

He explained that roads in Wan Chai were narrow and tree pits were typically about 1-metre wide and long, which was too small for one the size of a weeping fig with large arching branches.

“It is unthinkable and impossible to grow a three-storey tall tree in a small pit. It is a recipe for disaster,” he said. “Its survival [for this long] was a miracle.”

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Jim called for authorities to resolve the issue by either growing a smaller tree in a small pit or expanding the size of pits to accommodate bigger ones.

“If this is not resolved, another problem will repeat,” he said.

He said he repeatedly urged authorities, in vain, to enlarge the existing pit for a banyan tree planted by United States country singer John Denver at the same district in 1994.

The tree, over 10 metres in height, was planted within an about 1-metre long and wide pit at the junction of Johnston Road and Wan Chai Road.