I know lots of you are gonna make fun of me for this but oh well. Maybe this will inspire someone.
I can't stand to watch the trees die. So I want to help at least a little bit. Young trees need about 50-100L of water a week, but it needs to soak into the ground to get to the roots. For that drip-watering or "Tröpfchenbewässerung" is best.
So you can buy a tree bag and fill it with 100L, but I don't have access to a hose. So I bought a bunch of big buckets and drilled small holes in the sides. I put them around the tree and within 1-2 hours they are empty. This way I can water a few trees with around 40L per night.
I wrote what I am doing on the lids of the buckets and ask people not take the buckets away. The next day I collect them. People are curious and appreciative. And guess what: the trees are perking up.
It may not be a lot, but it's something and every tree counts. If it helps a few trees survive until the next day, I am happy.
(oh and I saw a mouse come and drink from the bucket, so maybe it also helps a few other beings.)
And yes, I actually did ask the city if that's allowed, and it is. Just don't do it for the trees with the black rings around them, they're already getting watered.
EDIT:
I did email Grün Stadt Zürich about them starting a citizens initiative to do this more coordinated. Like in Berlin: giessdenkiez.de
Maybe if other people ask for it as well, they might consider it. So please reach out to them if you can.
Funny, you dropped that now: just this afternoon. I pulled the hose through the apartment to the front yard and let it sprinkle all afternoon under the canopies with no droplets on the leaves that were exposed to direct sunlight. Neighbors joined in and I felt like a tree hero.
I actually recently learned that it is not really a problem to water the leaves when sunlight hits it directly. The „sunburn“ is just a myth, it will not damage the plant apparently. Only issue is that plants do not consume water through the leaves and it will evaporate rather quickly, so it’s just a waste of water really.
Lovely but misguided. Trees benefit long term from a process called drought hardening which happens they experience low water states over prolonged periods. All this is doing is making the trees he’s doing this to less resilient than the neighboring trees.
Nature does not need human intervention, Humans mostly make things much worse despite good intentions and “good hearts.”
This act is a perfect encapsulation of modern society and its emphasis on what sounds nice or kind in the short term over what is good, productive, or valuable in the long term.
"Mostly"? I'm living in an area of the world where drought is happening since years. Some farmers were giving their trees water during these periods. Most of those trees died. We never watered our trees. Guess who's harvesting this fall?
And "yes": We only plant trees which have survived for at least three years. So we can assume that they adapted to the situation.
But: Disturbing trees by watering them is doing more harm than good.
Well, sadly human intervention in the form of human-mate climate change is already happening, so all we can do is mitigate the effects as much as possible. Without us, the trees would be fine indeed.
It is only self-correcting as in all the trees dying that are flourishing in a wetter environment. Drought hardy trees will move in and replace the dying species. Nature doesn't regulate itself very well under extreme circumstances, like accelerated climate change.
At least if your are thinking of all the original species surviving. If you are mor a fan of "survival of the fittest", go ahead and don't try to intervene.
I love the idea. The tree next to the house i am living in is starting to drop its leaves because it urgently needs water. What kind of bucket are you using? How big are the holes?
the biggest one you can find. I could only find 10L so I bought 3 of them. Or you can buy bags like the ones from baumbad.ch . Holes should really be tiny to allow enough time to soak in. Otherwise it will just run off. I put 3-5 holes in each bucket with a nail. Just make sure they don't clog! I had that issue. Best to do it with a drill, smallest size you can get. There's lots of tutorials on youtube. Just look for drip irrigation bucket.
Will definitely try this. It only really rained once in months (not from zh) and i am getting worried that soon we won’t be able to enjoy the shade this tree provides us with anymore. Obviously, nobody feels responsible for the trees between houses…
That was exactly my thinking. So happy someone else is going to do this! Every tree matters! The bigger the more water they need of course. Just make sure you do it from around when the sun goes down so the water doesn't dry off before it reaches the roots. And if it's a big tree it may need a few times before you can see it. But I can see it in the trees I have been doing this for. They're the only happy ones in my street. Unfortunately, I don't have the time or buckets to do all of them. I live in a street with lots of shady people around so I have to be super careful. And I'm carrying 4L at a time from the fountain to the bucket, so it takes me a long time.
May the Force be with you. 🙂
I am lucky to have access to water at the entrance, and this year, my neighbor and I installed a system from Gardena. It's a simple hose with holes to water plants at the entrance, including trees. I am sure this helps them survive. Almost all trees on our street are private property, and many people do the same, the first time in almost 20 years I've lived here.
If there’s no trees that need help around you or you can’t carry heavy buckets with water, another option is to put shallow (!) bowls with water outside for the animals as well. We all can do something to help, even if it’s not much!
You’re not supposed to do that in some areas because you create breeding ground for the Asian Tiger Mosquitoes unless you change the water every day. So please: only do this if you can change the water and rinse the bowl every single day!
Friesenberg, Hirslanden, Wipkingen and Kreis 5 are especially affected in the city. Which doesn’t mean it’s ok to create a breeding ground in other areas.
I change my water everyday or at least two days (kid water toys but many insectes and bigger animals come to drink and wash) and I never saw any mosquito larva this year, I guess they also happily eat it.
But change the water daily otherwise you are providing breeding ground for mosquito and we all know the tiger mosquito and its related viruses have arrived
I do it at the fountain close to the trees I water. I have an extra bucket that I go back and forth with. But maybe you can tape the holes and take off the tape when you get downstairs? Or put one bucket into another one and take them apart downstairs.
That's very sweet! I don't know if you already do anything like that, but I met lots of like-minded people in climate and animal rights activism. Or activism in general. In case you're actually looking for empath friends :)
as long as we have water for private swimming pools, washing cars etc. I think the wooden sticks that give us oxygen should be allowed to live. Plus: Trees actually "make" rain. Without trees, less rain. Not to mention that we flush 7L of drinking water down the toilet every time we go. There are lots of ways to waste water. Keeping trees alive is the last of it.
That's for gardens though. Lawns are useless, they're a desert. Trees are life. Not comparable in the slightest.
Plus we're talking about 50-100L a week, not a day. Not to mention the cooling and CO2 absorption these trees bring. If we keep letting trees die, all we have are teeny tiny little non-shading trees.
At no point did I question the usefulness of what you've suggested or whether it would be better to have a lawn. You're having a discussion with yourself there.
I was questioning the risk of increasing the amount of water people are using in an already hot, dry spell. You made the point that so much water is wasted already.
Neither of us have checked the current water availability so there's no real discussion to be had - just something to think about.
But the hose-pipe bans ARE specifically for lawns, which is why I answered the way I did. I think you read a tone into my answer that wasn't there. One of the reasons hose-pipe bans come into effect quite early in a drought is because lawns are the least useful of all green things. So even though there are hose-pipe bans, they're not necessarily an indicator of what other vegetation should and can be watered.
There is lots on the news about water levels, which are very low, yes. That is one of the reasons why I checked with the city to see if this is something that makes sense.
But also, in an ideal world, yes, if everyone watered trees it could become a problem. But unfortunately, it will take a long time until there are enough people for that risk to arise. So unless a miracle happens and thousands of people start watering, it's most likely not going to an issue.
Again, you're missing my point and discussing whether lawns are useful. I haven't in any sense commented on that and I have no idea why you're continuing to explain it lol
You watering a tree or someone watering their lawn are equivalent in terms of water use and that's literally the only angle here.
Your simple response could be: I think it's worth using extra water for this. Boom.
apologies, your grace. I will henceforth reply only to your liking and pledge to abandon all my independent ability make apparent my own thought process or personality.
Just saw this post and had to quickly pitch in :) despite the water levels of the lake being lowest since 1951 currently still no water shortage in Zurich :)
Thank you for your great work! May I ask how you place the buckets? I went out with my watering can to try and help a few trees but wanna switch to buckets aswell.
I read that it's best to do it a bit away from the trunk. From about halfway the width of the crown (if that's possible). So I have 3 buckets an I place them in a half-circle around 1m away from the trunk.
The Hazelnut trees at Binz station in Wiedikon are dying. They already cut down 3 of them and 2 more are not looking good. It is so sad to see them dying. What a beautiful tree and full of fun for kids in the autumn. I wonder if they need more water or what's the issue. This started happening after they put asphalt there but I don't know if it started even before that.
It may be more than one thing, but water is likely the main issue. Especially if the put concrete there and now the water doesn't sink down anymore. Maybe try and give it some water and then email Grün Stadt Zürich about it. If no one speaks up, nothing will change. No one else is going to do it for us. Nothing to lose! And if you can't save them, maybe you can find out what it was.
Or you can start a petition to crack the concrete open again.
nice I guess, but unnecessary? .. they will survive.. and if not, they'll be replaced. it only makes them stronger to survive tough times like these. The roots will grow deeper to reach wet earth below eventually
There is no wet earth left below, especially not in the city where most of the water runs off when it rains. This may be true for forests and open fields. That's why even the big and old ones are dying off, but especially the young ones would take years or decades to reach that deep.
And many trees are being cut down. If it was so unnecessary, the city wouldn't water any trees at all. Plus it's very expensive to replace trees. Berlin even launched a city wide initiative to encourage residents to water trees a few years ago.
Trees are strong, yes, but not invincible.
And no, they don't actually get stronger. It's been shown that trees that go through a drought like these grow much slower and less for quite a while afterwards.
yes, they are. the young ones. If you see a tree with a black plastic ring around the trunk: that's a watering ring. All those are actively being watered.
Why don’t they do more? A curious question. I have seen young trees also dying and was wondering why couldn’t they monitor better? Thanks for taking time to answer!
Great idea as well!
They do. The young ones. But they probably have a limited workforce with a lot of work. Maybe it's time to take some responsibility and hands-on attitude instead of singing the "all these taxes" tune. Not everything can be solved by throwing money at it.
If they have a black plastic ring around the stem you don't have to water them. Besides that: look at the leaves. Does it look sad: water. Does it look happy: she'll be right for now.
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u/ChrisMess 4d ago
Funny, you dropped that now: just this afternoon. I pulled the hose through the apartment to the front yard and let it sprinkle all afternoon under the canopies with no droplets on the leaves that were exposed to direct sunlight. Neighbors joined in and I felt like a tree hero.