Abundance London launches tree watering campaign

Image: New trees in Grove Park Gardens, December 2024

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As trees become diseased or damaged and are taken out from their positions lining our streets, so on the whole they are replaced, but the sad fact is that many of the replacement young trees die because they are not watered.

Abundance London is launching a campaign to encourage people to take responsibility for their local trees and water them.

Guest blog by Dr Karen Liebreich, Director of Abundance London

Over the past few years we have all begun to appreciate the value of our street trees. As the climate emergency begins to reveal itself in the increasing unpredictability of our weather it has become clear that one of the best things we can do is plant more trees – they cool overheated cities, they sequester carbon, they help insect and birdlife.

In the hot summer of 2021 Abundance London tree volunteers stepped up – we had 85 volunteers looking after over 100 trees and we successfully kept nearly all alive. With a record dry March and a record hot April, it is clear that our new trees need help once more.

 Image: Chiswick’s street trees

In partnership with Hounslow and Ealing council tree officers we are launching this watering campaign.

Volunteers – residents, businesses, schoolchildren, everyone – is asked to check the list of new trees on our website at abundancelondon.com, select your nearest tree, and make a commitment to keep it alive by watering as per the instructions.

Fill in the easy form to let others know you are on it. If you live outside the immediate Chiswick area you can of course still look after your tree!

To be a top tree waterer, you should be giving your tree a full watering can or bucket twice a week, from now until October, preferably in the evening or first thing in the morning, directed at the base of the tree.

This will ensure that our new trees get a really good start and become healthy, happy mature trees for decades to come.

Karen Liebreich is Director of Abundance London

READ ALSO: Chiswick’s Street Trees

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