Two months since it was installed the trial Streetgarden is proving effective at feeding its tree and keeping water where it falls.

Some plants (Corsican mint in particular) were burnt by the sun in the first month and died. The most robust is the native iris and none of these have died and lots are flowering and showing new growth.

The tree has new pale green growth about 50 mm or more on each of the ends of the branches and is thriving despite its age. We’re monitoring the maintenance requirements by measuring each fortnight the amount of sediment that accumulates, and we’re also monitoring how much water is required to bring the garden to maximum water storage capacity. A work in progress, and we expect to publish some preliminary data.

New, pale growth in the leaves of the tree

I’ve written this just after a site visit on hot day (27 degrees). I noticed the nearby concrete pavement was too hot for a dog to stand on and it was burning my hand to touch, so at least about a metre of hot pavement has been replaced by a cool garden which also is reducing the heat load and evaporation loss of the tree.