After 10 years of drought, Victorians are increasingly feeling the pressure to decrease their water usage as much as possible. Sadly, many people almost seem to feel guilty about gardening. Unfortunately for some this meant they have stopped watering their trees and gardens. We need to be mindful about wasteful gardening practices and ensure we mulch, take more care with garden design, plant selections and re-use or harvest water for gardening wherever possible. But it is also important to ensure established trees are getting enough water and mulch as many are becoming extremely stressed and may never recover. It takes much more water to establish new trees in the first few years than it does to nurture established ones. Aside from this, we all benefit from having established trees in the environment. The concept of individuals taking responsibility for their ecological footprint is rapidly becoming a part of our lifestyle and approach to the world. But we still need to garden - it's good for our general well-being, quality of life, micro-climates and property values!
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