CORNWALL – In your travels around Cornwall you may have seen green plastic bags at the base of some city trees.
They are part of a watering experiment by the city’s parks and recreation department.
The large plastic bags – there are 20 being used right now – clip around the tree and have microscopic holes that allow a slow release of water.
During a presentation to the Cornwall and District Horticulture Society Tuesday night, Cornwall Parks Supervisor Scott Porter said it’s a more effective way of watering during the very hot weather.
A sudden blast of water during traditional watering either runs off or evaporates in the heat, Porter explained, but the slow-release bags allow the trees to suck up most of the water over a six to eight hour period.
The bags also save on staff time where watering of trees is required three times a day. All the workers have to do is fill them up and go on to the next job.
The reusable bags cost about $30 each.