Four melia trees at the intersection of Pollen and Sealey streets in Thames will be removed and replaced this week.

On Monday the Thames-Coromandel District Council began removing the four trees and have immediately started replacing them with four Māori Princess pohutukawa trees.

Four melia trees at the intersection of Pollen and Sealey streets in Thames will be replaced with Māori Princess Pohutukawa Trees. Photo: File

'The melias to be replaced are an unsuitable species for main streets and are lifting out of their planter boxes, creating trip hazards that need to be eliminated," says Thames parks officer and qualified arborist Chris Muller.

Māori Princess are a small and compact form of pohutakawa, well suited to street plantings and will carry on the Pohutukawa Coast theme of the Thames area.

The new trees are similar to those planted along Pollen St at the pedestrian crossing outside the Farmers and the Post Office back in June. There are already some planted on Mary St as well.

Barriers will be placed around the tree pits until they can be dismantled. The tree roots will be ground out and the tree pit levels adjusted to the original pavement height.

New soil will be placed in the tree pits, the new trees planted, the soak stone tree grates reinstated and the trees staked. The surrounding pavement will then be reinstated to the correct level.

This work forms part of the council's staged replacement programme of melia trees along Pollen St and is scheduled to be complete by Labour Weekend.

Image courtesy of Google Maps.