SOLIHULL Council’s tree planting campaign, Planting Our Future, has partnered up with the Arboricultural Association to ask residents to help young trees during the dry summer months.
Trees needing help will have special ‘Please Water Me’ tags attached.
Planting Our Future decided to join the national campaign after last year’s low rainfall – the lowest since 1976 – to help support the thousands of trees that are being planted across the borough.
Although all newly planted trees have a watering schedule in place for the first three summers, the campaign asks residents to give additional watering support to newly planted trees during dry spells.
Established mature trees are able to find their own water.
However, it is recommended that newly planted trees are given 50 litres of water per week during the summer months, for the first three years after planting.
Coun Ian Courts, leader of Solihull Council, said: “If there are trees on your street, or that you pass on your daily commute or while walking the dog, please keep an eye on them during dry spells and take a bottle of grey water, like washing up water or water from your water butt, to give them a drink.
“Although we have a watering schedule in place for newly planted trees, we would really appreciate it if residents could help give our younger trees some added support during dry spells to give them a better chance of surviving into maturity.”
The ‘Planting Our Future’ campaign encourages residents to engage with tree planting, get involved in green infrastructure projects and offers support to private landowners who wish to plant trees.
Since the campaign started in 2020, the team has planted 75,000 across the borough and is on track to plant another 25,000 in 2023/24.
Visit the https://www.lovesolihull.org/plantingourfuture for more information.
