We routinely water, once a week, all the trees we plant for the 2 summers after they are planted and longer if they need it. As we have boasted in our reports on the planting seasons, we first set a new record of the number of trees planted (84) in 2023/24 and then broke it with 95 trees planted in 2024/25. The inevitable result of this admirable achievement was that we had a record number of trees to water in the summer of 2025. We have permission to fill our 1000 litre bowser from the River Brain, and we worked out a way in which we could complete the watering round by filling the bowser three times. The trees are scattered around the town, but we plotted a route which wouldget the job done efficiently. All these plans assumed that we would have roughly the same temperatures and as much rain in the summer of 2025 as we had had in 2023 and 2024.

Of course, what happened was that we were faced with the hottest, driest summer on record andour plans went out the window. We started watering at the beginning of May and were still going at the end of September. In a normal summer – if such a thing still exists – we get the occasionalweek off when there has been enough rain. In 2025 there was never enough rain and we were out every week. It quickly became clear that a number of older trees, which we would not normally water after 2 summers, were struggling in the drought. We were soon filling the bowser 4 times in order to water these extra trees. Eventually, instead of watering some 170 trees, we were watering some 250 and filling the bowser 5 times. This was a record but one we did not want. The need to visit additional sites extended the watering run and on several occasions we were out for more than 4 hours (including a 20 minute beak for coffee and moaning).

With the, hopefully temporary, suspension of the government funding scheme, we shall have fewer trees to water next summer. But our strenuous and exhausting experience in 2025 made it even more clear that we need help. If anyone can spare a few hours to assist this essential task, please get in touch. There is no point in planting trees if you do not do everything necessary to keep them alive and healthy. If you want to see the result of not doing so, you only have to look at any of the new housing estates around Witham, where dead trees often outnumber the living.

At the end of this challenging summer, what did we achieve? First the bad news. We planted whips (one year old trees), provided free of charge by  The Conservation Volunteers, along the
hedge by the railway at the Rivenhall Oaks end of the cycle path from Motts Lane. We normally allow whips to fend for themselves but in this extreme summer we did try to water them if therewas any water left at the end of the run. But we could not water them routinely and they suffered accordingly. Had we planted them the year before, most would have survived but this summer
wiped out the great majority.

There is a much better story for the substantial trees which are the main focus of our activity. Of the older trees which we watered as additions to our normal round 1 did not survive, a hornbeam in the Memorial Park at Bramble Road planted 4 years ago, which began to show signs of serious stress by July and could not be revived however much water we gave it.

The original purpose of the watering round was, of course, to sustain the trees planted in the last 2 years. It is heartening to report that of these not a single one was lost. Given the extreme weather this was a remarkable achievement. The effort made in order to secure this success was exceptional and, as the Group members grow older, probably unrepeatable. But we have the
satisfaction of knowing that at least we exhausted ourselves in a winning cause.

We thought the drought in the summer of 2022 was hard enough to cope with but 2025 was even more challenging. We are happy to have come through it with so little damage. But it is clear that, unless others come forward to help, we are going to have to reduce our activities to match our current membership. There is no sign that the weather pattern will return to the old days of
summer rain. So, we depend on winter rains to ensure that the trees at least get a good start inSpring. In fact, we are probably the only people in Witham dreaming of a wet Christmas.