Tree watering

Help to boost trees within the London Borough of Richmond.

Watering programme - what we're doing

We employ a specialist arborist contractor to plant and care for trees. The contractor carries out a programme of watering and maintenance which begins in April and continues throughout the growing season.

There are 19 visits per year planned for each tree in the first three years of establishment, with flexibility to target frequency to hot and dry spells. Should we encounter an exceptionally long and dry growing season we are able to order additional watering.

We monitor the condition of the trees on the establishment program to ensure adequate aftercare.

Help us keep young trees healthy - what you can do

We are facing more frequent heatwaves and drought making community watering to support Council efforts increasingly important.

We have over 2,000 young trees on the establishment program - that’s a lot to get around! With help from the community, we can ensure our trees are able to thrive, accelerating growth rates and maximising the benefits they bring to people and biodiversity .

You can support us by watering newly planted street trees:

• Use two watering cans (containing around 10 litres of water in total) per tree, ideally every two days
• Watering is best in the evenings or early mornings to reduce evaporation losses. If there is a watering tube (see image) this can be used to prevent run off by splitting the water between the tube the surface of the tree pit 
• Where possible, we encourage the use of collected rainwater and grey water (for example bath or washing up water – water containing soap isn’t a problem)
• Please communicate with your neighbours, to help coordinate watering efforts, share the load and prevent overwatering
• Join the Friends of Street Trees - see the next section

Friends of Street Trees scheme

A new community-led initiative, Friends of Street Trees, is looking to recruit volunteers to help water street trees in our neighbourhoods during the warmer months.

In Richmond upon Thames, we’re fortunate to be surrounded by thousands of beautiful trees that provide immense benefits to our communities, from improving our air quality and shading us during the hot months, to boosting physical and mental wellbeing through a connection to nature.

During the last planting season alone, over 800 trees were planted within our highways, parks and open spaces, with a further 800 due to be planted in the current season. When next summer approaches, it is essential that our young trees are supported to thrive during the hot, dry months, as the number one cause of tree mortality for street trees in England is lack of water.

This is much more likely to happen with support from the whole community, and that’s where Friends of Street Trees comes in!

The new local community group, run by a small team of volunteers, aims to coordinate the support of local people keen to help water the trees on their streets.

There are a couple of ways you can get involved:

• Volunteer to keep an eye on and water just one tree on your street a few times a week. This only requires two large watering cans per tree, and you can even use collected rainwater or ‘grey water’ (for example, bath or washing-up water). If you would like to help with watering a tree but don’t have any nearby, Friends of Street Trees may be able to find a tree for you
• If you have a bit more time and want to get involved further, you could also volunteer to be a street rep and seek to get your neighbours involved so the whole street can take part. 

Find out more about Friends of Street Trees.

In our borough, there are about eight people for every public tree – and even more if you only consider street trees! Together, we can make sure they stay well cared for and looked after for our shared benefit.