Out of the Woods

Fulfillment of the National Johnson's echo of the Trumpster's long-ago pledge to plant seventeen trillion trees, or whatever, has been somewhat imperilled by the recent drought. The Johnson régime burbled about planting seven thousand hectares of woodland a year by May 2024, which presumably would have been scaled down to something more realistic, such as a bit of prime-ministerial posturing beside an embarrassed sapling in April. According to a journalist's scan of Wikipedia, British trees are prey to a number of hazards, including the stirringly-named oak processionary moth; and gardeners are using more Mediterranean plants which may soon invigorate the national landscape with the unfussy bacterium Xylella fastidiosa. Fortunately, with the ligneous Liz Truss and her cabinet of woodentops in charge, the Government is unlikely to see any immediate need for more trees.