Birmingham charity calls for “emergency watering” to keep trees alive
July was the driest months for England and Wales since records began 190 years ago, according to the Met Office
A gardening charity in Birmingham says they've suffered "significant issues" due to the dry weather.
Much of England, including the West Midlands, has been experiencing drought – caused by continuous heatwaves and a lack of rain this summer.
Fruit and Nut Village plants community orchards, forest gardens and food-growing spaces across the city.
The group is calling on their volunteers to help keep their plants alive.
Project coordinator, Rob Tilling, explains: “A lot of our trees, we’ve got over 1 thousand planted, are very young. Very young trees need water. The problems for us are quite large. We don’t have bowsers; we don’t have funding to water things. We’ve got a bit of an issue.”
Fruit and Nut Village has resorted to donated water from volunteer’s homes, or water collected from rivers, to aid their crops.
Rob said: “We’re sending out messages to our volunteers saying, its time to do emergency watering – can you help? We’re getting an amazing response and we’re keeping trees alive. Last year, we lost very few, maybe just a handful. This year we hope to lose none, but we’ll have to wait and see later.
The charity says having green infrastructure in cities like Birmingham is so important, especially as the climate changes.
Rob Tilling said: “Trees keep the ground cool, its giving shade to people, it’s a much safer environment for people to spend their time. Obviously, we’ve got all the carbon benefits as well. And it’s doing a lot of positivity to the area."