Trees to return to their roots

The time has come for some 60 palm trees to return to their original home in Spinola, where they are to form an "important and integral" part of the second phase of the Portomaso landscaping exercise by Peter Calamatta's The Garden Shop Nursery.

The giant palms used to adorn the gardens of the old Hilton site at St Julian's for over 25 years, but had to be removed when the new Portomaso/Hilton development started some six years ago, Peter Calamatta said.

The owner of the land, Tumas Group, had promised the Malta Environment and Planning Authority that it would do its utmost to save the trees.

They were then lifted and transferred to a site in Qormi, where they have been looked after by Peter Calamatta and his landscaping team.