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Carbochim trees are preserved. I return to the same place, in a new park open to Someș, part of the reconversion project of the former Cluj industrial platform.

*126 trees from the former Carbochim platform are saved to be reintegrated in a park created from scratch in the northern area of ​​Cluj

* are relocated to the nursery dedicated to the new mixed-use project, which will return 14 industrial hectares to the city, along with more than 600 other trees

* the approach is a rare one, assuming developed logistics

* linden, silver fir, spruce, birch, walnut, red plum, palin tree, cedar and magnolia are the species that have already entered the vegetation

* the green space set up in the mixed-use urban reconversion complex exceeds 52,000 sqm, representing over 30% of the project area

VIDEO: Carbochim trees are preserved. I return to the same place, in a new PARK open to Someș

Based on a detailed arboreal study, carried out by Prof. Dr. Eng. Horia Dan Vlasin, from the Faculty of Forestry and Cadastre, the vegetation on the former Carbochim industrial platform was researched in detail, with a view to saving as much as possible .

From a total of 156 trees, 126 were identified as possible to relocate, after being analyzed according to dendrological and dendrometric parameters and characteristics, including shape or structure defects, height, diameter, girth height and other characteristics.

“The relocation criteria was primarily the species, and on the Carbochim platform there were both resinous and deciduous species. We took into account the aesthetic character of the trees, their state of health and, implicitly, the possibility of transplanting and moving them. Theoretically, the age up to which the trees can be extracted and replanted is unlimited, as long as the tree is relocated without disturbing the root system and the soil ball, which makes it much easier to hold it in the new location”, said Prof. Dr. Eng. Horia Dan Vlasin.

New life for the trees on the former Carbochim platform

The relocation process has already been carried out for the first 74 trees, which are currently in the IULIUS nursery, hosted by the Horticultural Research Station of the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV) Cluj-Napoca. The rest of the trees will be moved to the extent that it will be possible to extract them safely. There are linden, silver fir, spruce, birch, walnut, red plum, paltin, cedar and magnolia species, which enjoy specialized treatments in the nursery and which have already entered vegetation with the arrival of spring.

“We started preparing for the harvest in January 2023, when we did the first works at the root level. They remained like that for a year, and the actual relocation began in January 2024, an optimal time for such works, as the plants are in vegetative rest. As a procedure, root excavations were made, with a diameter of 2.5 meters and a depth below the level of the last root, of about 1 meter. Baling with jute and net followed, to keep the soil on the roots, and later they were actually transplanted. It was a long and difficult process, but the result is one to measure, because the trees have already entered the vegetation and will reach the new park created by the mixed-use project in the Piața 1 Mai area”, explains Călin Revnic, IULIUS horticultural engineer.

A new park for Cluj: 5 hectares, 700 trees and 100,000 decorative plants

The trees on the former industrial platform will join impressive specimens of sycamores, lindens, ginkgo biloba, chestnuts, pyramidal oaks, rubber trees, hornbeams, maples, mulberries, liriodendron and metasequoia, in the process of acclimatization in the nursery since 2023. They are mature trees, with heights of up to 13 meters and ages of up to 60 years, so that the benefits of the future garden can be comparable to those of parks with an already long lifespan.

“Relocating trees is not a common process. In recent years, the relocation of smaller trees has been resorted to, especially for green spaces. I don’t know that such big trees have relocated, at least here in Cluj. Of course, the efforts are quite big for the relocation, in return, basically, the life of that tree will continue and, moreover, it does not take long to grow, to provide shade, to provide landscape for the citizens,” added Conf. Dr. Eng. Horia Dan Vlasin.

As part of the project that restores 14 hectares of industrial area to the city, green spaces of more than 5 hectares are proposed, which will integrate the more than 700 mature trees that are already prepared in the nursery, relocated from the former Carbochim platform and those brought to Cluj from specialist suppliers in Italy, as well as another 100,000 plants of various sizes, selected to support the biodiversity of the project.

“The investment, estimated at over half a billion euros”

IULIUS is recognized for extensive park layouts in its projects, which integrate mature trees, grassy areas, relaxation spaces, boardwalk facilities and outdoor events. In total, IULIUS has developed 13 hectares of urban gardens, in mixed-use projects in Iași, Timișoara and Cluj-Napoca, where over 80,000 large trees and shrubs grow.

The urban reconversion approach proposed by IULIUS to restore to the city 14 hectares of industrial area, mainly non-functional, as a project open to the entire community, with cultural functions, office, retail, residential, entertainment and a large urban garden is an integrated one, which aligns with the strategies from the city development plan.

The investment, estimated at over half a billion euros, also proposes solutions for the systematization and restructuring of the car, bicycle and pedestrian infrastructure in the area: a new road bridge with four car lanes and two pedestrian walkways over the Someș River, the development of bicycle tracks, the realization of two roundabouts, the modernization and widening of two streets and the development of three intersections and public transport stations in the 1 Mai Square area.