Natural Water HarvestingWater harvesting principles are currently at the forefront of sustainable urban design, though many of us may not realise the vast amounts of water a single mature tree in our cities is capable of collecting and holding. This illustrates the importance of choosing the right tree for the location.

According to research conducted by the City of Stockholm, Sweden; “Trees take up large amounts of water from the soil during the growing season. For example, measurements from a fully grown lime tree (crown diameter approximately 14m) in Malmo, Sweden, in summer 2006 showed that that particular tree consumed around 670 litres of water per day during the month of July. Therefore trees have a huge capacity to handle stormwater.”