Erfurt (dpa/th) - With two converted winter service vehicles, Stadtwerke Erfurt watered a newly planted forest and prevented it from drying out. The municipal utilities had activated a retired employee for the watering, the city announced on Monday. Around 2,000 trees and 500 shrubs were planted in the autumn of last year on the reforestation area in the Kerpsleben district.
As it was also said, the watering in Kerspleben has already been successful. Fresh green has sprout on the little trees where withered leaves could already be seen two months ago. The public utilities are watering another area in Azmannsdorf for the municipality's environment and nature conservation office, which was also created as a community forest last autumn.
In this context, the city referred to watering sponsorships, which the Garden and Cemetery Office arranges. For example, residents of the city would water the trees on their doorstep. Due to this year's drought, trees would suffer particularly. July 2022 broke all negative records in terms of precipitation since weather records began.
It is no longer just the young trees that are affected. The old trees would also be under constant stress and lose their connection to the water, which is now also missing in the deeper soil layers. As a strategy, the trees shed their leaves early on to reduce the evaporation of water. But then they lack the leaf mass to store storage substances and start the next year fit.
