Several roads in Hitchin were briefly flooded yesterday as heavy intense thunderstorm rain hit the town.

Nevertheless rainfall has been far below normal averages this year, leading the council to issue advice on how to keep newly planted trees alive.

A key tactic is reusing your waste water such as dishwater, especially when it's very hot and dry.

North Herts Council has a watering programme but any additional watering will increase their chance of survival.  

Cllr Amy Allen, Executive Member for Environment, explained: "Watering trees, especially newly planted ones, is crucial for their survival and healthy growth, so any new or young trees around the district will really appreciate any additional water they can get during hot weather.

"This is similar to our plea in 2023, when we followed advice from the Woodland Trust and Aboricultural Association to encourage local people to water their street trees, as unfortunately we lost a high number of trees in the summer of 2022 due to hot weather. In addition, we know local people will be planting their own trees from Hertfordshire County Council's recent tree giveaway, and we want to give them the best chance to become established and thrive."

So, if you have a young tree or trees outside your house or business – usually with a wooden stake and tree guard – or some that you pass on a regular walk for instance, please do what you can. Here are some tips:

• Where possible, use harvested rainwater but water which has been used for washing up or in the bath is also fine.
• Try not to water when the soil in in direct sunlight as it will evaporate, it's best to water when the tree is in shade or early morning/in the evening.
• If the tree has a watering pipe, then half of your water should be poured down the pipe and the other half on the ground surface around the tree. If the tree has a watering bag please fill that.

One tree was claimed every 15 seconds in the fourth year of the County Council's 'Your Tree Our Future' scheme which is tree-mendous! This includes 13,000 in North Herts alone which North Herts Council supported. The scheme is now closed.

Cllr Allen continued: "With all the effort local residents and communities put into planting trees, we really need to ensure they get the best start so efforts aren't wasted. And of course we're not asking residents to take over our watering schedule of street trees, but every little helps, especially in this incredibly hot weather we're experiencing at the moment.

"Trees are so important, they obviously give us the oxygen we need to breathe but they have many benefits including storing carbon and reducing air pollution, providing shade and vital habitat for wildlife."