Summer is here. It’s hot. And so are the trees.
In July, the new silver birch trees on the A362 started to look pretty thirsty. It wasn’t clear whether the council was watering or had watered them so April Totham’s idea – why not get the trees adopted – was just what they needed. Within a week, all the trees were adopted, watered and mulched. The new trees by the playground, donated by the Rotary Club, were beneficiaries too: four of these have been adopted and there are about 10 others seeking carers. If you’d like to join the party and adopt a tree please email
There’s a bit more to this story than meets the eye. Of course, we could have waited to see if the council would take care of the problem. They might have saved the trees but there are a lot of trees in BANES that need watering—and nobody cares about our trees as much as we do. They’re our trees.
The same could be said about the climate crisis. We are watching to see what the government will do. We could just wait. But we’ll get more done – and even perhaps have more fun – if we do what we can do ourselves. That’s the spirit behind Farrington Green. We can’t do everything but together we can do a lot.
Tree Adopters to the Rescue!
It’s hard to imagine in this hot summer but come the autumn, temperatures will go down—and energy bills will go up. This will be unpleasant for everyone, tough for many and increased energy consumption is bad for the environment. So on the afternoon of October 15th, in Memorial Hall, there will be a half-day program of talks and product demonstrations to help everyone save energy and stay warm. This will include
Talks and demonstrations by the Cold Homes Energy Efficiency Survey Experts
Information and advice from Bristol’s Centre for Sustainable Energy
Information about available grants and loans
Discussion of insulation and draught proofing
Did you know that you can cut up to 1/3rd of your energy cost just by plugging draughts?
And if enough people are interested, we can investigate bulk purchase discounts for insulation and draught-proofing materials.
Nobody wants to waste energy or money – so put October 15th in your diary now!
WARMER WINTER FAIR: OCTOBER 15
if you know anyone nearby who’d be interested in this, please send them a link to this page and ask them to subscribe to the newsletter.
As our energy bills go up, everyone’s looking a lot more closely at where their money is going. About 21% of the UK’s carbon emissions come from our homes and quite a lot of that goes to waste. So it’s worth thinking about how to reduce consumption, save money and save the planet.
CHIMNEYS: In some houses, up to 25% of a room’s heat goes straight up the chimney. But there are ways to fix that.
THE PHANTOM LOAD: We all run a lot of devices which mostly live in standby mode. That doesn’t mean they are off; they’re still consuming energy—and it adds up.
Phone chargers plugged in at the wall still use electricity—even if not plugged into your phone. It must be switched off at the wall to stop using energy.
A digital TV box left on will cost you around £40 a year if it’s left on—and that’s at old prices.
Multi-room speakers, in idle mode, can cost around £30 a year, as can the speakers that are in perpetual standby mode waiting for you to talk to them.
A wireless router costs you if you don’t switch it off when you go away on holiday.
If you don’t have a Smart Meter, you can try the Loop Snoop to identify the appliances that are costing you most. Or try to plug many devices into a multi-plug so you can switch off everything in one go.
The really big wins aren’t cheap. The UK has some of the worst housing stock in Europe, with our homes losing heating three times faster than our European neighbours.
Here are three stories about people (2 from Bristol) who decided they wanted to lower their energy bills:
Judith who installed external insulation and a heat pump
Peter, who found that when he insulated his hot water tank, doors, windows and radiators, he reduced his gas use by 40% -- and spent the money he saved on solar panels
and
Anne and John who went the whole hog: put in new insulation, gave up on oil, retrofitted an air heat pump, fitted solar panels and installed an electric car charger.
WHERE DOES ALL THE ENERGY GO?
Every gardener can feel and see the climate change – and with half the adult population involved in gardening, that means there’s a lot we can do. According to the Royal Horticultural Society, it’s likely that we will see an increase in the number of hot, dry spells in the summer, that winters will be wetter and that we will have some years that are frost-free. For us, that means a longer growing season and the need for more weeding, mowing and pruning. Plants that have a single flowering may have a shorter season but continuous or repeat flowering plants may have longer seasons. So that might change what plants you choose for your garden. Here are some tips culled from the RHS and various other sources of reliable information.
· PLANT POLLINATORS – that is, plants that specifically attract pollinating insects. Diversity is key. Earlier flowering seasons threaten to disrupt pollination rhythms so planting more kinds of pollinators will help. You won’t be sorry: about 30% of our food relies directly on insect pollination, so no pollinators, no more strawberries, apples, almonds, raspberries... We need healthy, resilient natural ecosystems to help support a healthy, resilient food system. The RHS has a fantastic (and easy to use) Plants for Pollinators site to help you know which plants attract which pollinators: pile in; you can find pollinators for flowering all through the year.
· OVERWHELMED WITH CHOICE? You might be so here is a gorgeous app that will instantly design a pollinator garden for you. (Even if you don’t follow it strictly, it will give you good recommendations. And it produces a fabulous, very inspiring sketch!)
· CONSIDER DRIP IRRIGATION SYSTEMS. No they aren’t wildly expensive and designed for huge farms. They will work with pot plants or small gardens too. It means you waste less water.
· PLANT TREES FOR SHADE. Plants like Cercis siliquastrum (Judas tree) or Prunus trees provide lovely light and shade. Of course, trees also sequester carbon and take particulates out of the air—so the air we breathe is healthier.
· PLANT CLOSE TO THE HOUSE to make watering (and using dish water) a lot easier.
· CUT DOWN ON MOWING as much as you can, with wild gardens and grasses. We’re all going to have to get used to brown lawns.
· MULCH The use of wood chip, stepping stones, rocks or gravel can reduce soil temperature, retain moisture and encourage root growth.
· TRY NOT TO PAVE OVER SOIL but if you must, use permeable paving stones. That way, when it does rain in the winter, the water will go into the soil and not contribute to flooding.
· INSTALL WATER BUTTS (No comment needed!)
· AVOID PEAT Lots of peat-free composts are available. Nearby George’s Garden seems always to have it in stock.
· AVOID CHEMICALS is what the RHS advises. Pesticides are a threat to pollinators and compost is a good fertilizer.
And of course: water young trees!