Sixty years ago, a then 12-year-old and Craighall Park resident made his mark when he planted an oak tree.
Rod Jones said when he planted the tree he was a ‘kid on a hustle to make money’.
“I collected a few small sprouting oak trees from under a massive tree in our neighbour’s garden and potted them in old tin cans hoping to sell them to the neighbours,” he recalled.
“Nobody wanted to buy them, so I planted them all in what was at that time an open piece of veld opposite my house. Only a few of them survived and years later with a lot of pressure from my late mother who ‘had connections’, the municipality carried out a bit of landscaping and turned the patch of veld into a fairly respectable little park.
“What were two of my tiny saplings planted far too close together, merged and grew up into the massive tree that you see today.”
Jones said he moved away from the area more than 50 years ago and now lived in Lonehill but the park, Rattray Park, was maintained by City Parks.
He added that he would plant the acorns from his oak tree in an appropriate place in Lonehill.
“Last December I collected several dozen acorns from under ‘my tree’. Only five of them have sprouted and are growing in tubs. I will re-pot them into large tubs and perhaps they will be ready for permanent planting by this time next year.”
Jones said, however, environmentalists considered oak trees ‘water-hungry’ and some regarded them as alien invaders.
Highlighting the importance of trees, Jones said, “I am led to believe that Johannesburg is the world’s largest man-made forest. I like to think that we can perpetuate this by teaching children [and adults] to plant trees. Lots and lots of trees – [preferably indigenous.”
Share your community project by email to naidines@caxton.co.za
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