As far as the trees that we had planted were concerned, we were grateful for the wet winter. It should have settled them in nicely. However, in this side of the country all wet weather seems to come to an end. With no rain for some weeks and no rain forecast for some while, in combination with hot sunny and windy weather, we were concerned that many of our newly planted trees would not survive.
Thanks to Braintree council, watering of the WW1 memorial wood trees has been subcontracted out for May and June. With the easing of the lockdown we have started watering again and our new blue bowser is easier for social distancing as it has 3 water outlets. Consequently, we are watering mainly the trees that we planted during the winter of 2018/19, with only a few from last winter. All has gone well so far, with trees growing well, despite the weather.
Around the town, we are concerned for the trees planted by developers and others as often they do not have an effective watering regime in place. Although they will normally replace trees that have failed, with no watering, the replacements may not survive and it is sad to see trees that have been grown and planted dying through lack of watering.
Eric
May 2020
