The tree maintenance team from Aachen's municipal services department has started work on redesigning Nizzaallee.

Over the past 25 years or so, continuous attempts have been made to maintain the redthorn population there. However, the sandy, stony soil holds neither water nor nutrients, and the shallow-rooted hawthorns do not go into the deeper layers of soil to compensate and gradually die off due to the lack of water and nutrients.

In recent months, representatives of the municipal administration, the municipal Climate and Environment Department, local residents and the Lousberg Society have agreed on a change of tree species due to the difficult site conditions. The choice fell on the deep-rooted clove cherry, an ornamental cherry that is similar in color to the redthorn. It grows in a conical shape in the crown, which means that the clearance profile of the road is not restricted. The city has already had extensive positive experience with this tree species at other locations, so it is assumed that it will grow well and take over the local climatic and design functions in the long term.

In preparation for the new planting, the tree maintenance team from Aachener Stadtbetrieb will cut down a total of 27 dead or dying hawthorns in a first section between Theresienstrasse and Försterstrasse by the end of November. The team will then prepare the areas for the new plantings by spring, so that a total of 70 trees can be planted in the area described. In order to create better conditions for the future trees, some of the tree locations will be widened or merged to increase the potential rooting space. An additional soil replacement, with an adapted tree substrate up to one meter deep, provides good conditions, as the good gas exchange stimulates root growth. Over the next three years, the character of the avenue will be restored by planting a total of 173 new trees.

As the Nizzaallee is registered in the avenue register of the North Rhine-Westphalia State Office for Nature, Environment and Climate, the replanting was coordinated with the lower nature conservation authority. By changing the tree species, the avenue will retain its structure and population in the long term and ultimately also have a greater ecological benefit.