Humans need to drink lots of water every day for the health of our bodies. In hot weather, we need to hydrate even more. The same is true for the trees that keep our streets shady and keep down the heat, absorb air pollution and carbon dioxide, and give us oxygen in return.
Street trees
Lambeth Council has planted hundreds of new trees on streets over recent years. They don’t have rich fertile soil to grow into, and even when rain soaks our streets, it doesn’t soak into the ground for them to drink up slowly – it runs quickly into the drains.
(Giving) back to nature
Advice on when, how much, and what kind of water to use for young trees on Lambeth streets
It’s easy to give something back to the trees that protect our environment– just twice a week, take out a couple of big jugs of water or a bucket and slowly give your neighbourhood tree a drink. Trees are (as you might expect) environmentally friendly and like recycled water – from a bath, washing up, or rain barrel.
- Some young trees have a watering pipe, pour half the water down that and the other half onto the tree
- Some have a watering bag – just fill it up.
Share the water
If you share a tree with next door, invite your neighbours to take it in turns, and both water your trees once a week. If you walk past a tree every day, put a message on your street’s Whatsapp? or Facebook group about a rota to get all the trees in the street watered when our weather isn’t going to it for them.
More information
- Download the London Tree Officers Association (LTOA) publication Sustainable water management, free from their website
- Get general information about trees and tree care from the Arboricultural Association website
- More about Lambeth’s Green Spaces
