26/08/2026
TREES WILL COOL US DOWN BETTER THAN AIR CONDITIONING (www.thetimes.com/)
New tree planting in this country is inadequate and, where it does take place, badly managed. Driving down the A303 this week I saw miles of shrivelled saplings encased in plastic guards, almost all dead.
Of the 860,000 trees planted for the A14 scheme in 2022, 45% have failed having been poorly planted and abandoned. National Highways manages 30,000 hectares of “soft estate” and nurturing properly these trees and hedgerows could provide wildlife corridors while muffling the sound of the roads and countering air pollution. But unless targets are focussed on the aftercare, the planting figures become pointless.
Britain needs more mature trees to keep cool. The country can’t rely on native species either, or the plantations of new conifers intended to offset the egregious carbon dioxide consumption of some companies.
Our elm and ash have already become too diseased, the native Quercus robur, English oak, may struggle in the next few decades. Beech, silver birch and holly are also showing their vulnerability in this unpredictable weather as are cherries with their shallow roots.
They’ve gone into self-protection mode. Native hawthorn and pear fare better but there is now an urgent need for more diverse, imported drought-resilient species such as small-leaved limes, figs, cypress, Turkish hazel and Mexican oaks (Britain has two species of oak compared with 170 in Mexico, most of which are better adapted to extreme climates), alongside plants like agapanthus, crepe myrtle and lavender.
At Kew Gardens in London, the grass has shrivelled around the Henry Moore statues while stressed plants are shedding leaves. Kew lost more than 400 trees in the 2022 drought. Researchers found 72% of London’s canopy will struggle to thrive by the end of the century.
Plant and nurture a tree from Asia, America or Africa or install air conditioning units that pump yet more heat onto the streets — the choice is ours. But I know which will make us healthier and happier. As AE Housman said, “Give me a land of boughs in leaf.” No one writes an ode to a fan.
