Aibu to think we don't need more fruit trees?

[PandaLady]

UKIP posted a leaflet through my door which promised me and fellow locals that together we would 'plant more fruit trees' if they get elected.

I live in Stevenage, a fairly industrial new town with a bad rep and plenty of deprivation. Not the 'Old Town' which is rather lovely and leafy.

I really love where I live but from my window I can see two huge chimney things with steam coming out the top and a massive high rise block of flats. My neighbours are mostly people who live in bedsits and a minority of families who occupy a whole house which doesn't have a garden.

Out the back of my house I have a car which has been dumped and fuck knows how, because the wheels are all bent out of shape.

To the front there are two trolleys which someone has piled up with rubbish.

If you are with me so far, can you understand why the priority for the people of Stevenage might not be planting fruit trees?

AIBU to think that we used to have the Monster Raving Looney party for this sort of 'alternative' idea?

Because your garden isn’t in balance.
The pest insects outnumber the predators
Balance doesn’t happen overnight, you need to give it time.

We weren't stupid. I think everyone with common.sense gets that.

However, the garden isn't a separate element. It's affected by it's surroundings. And unless everyone including the farmer with crops behind our fence stops, well, balance won't appear even after few years.

It's also not just insects. It's ilnesses too. Iirc we sprayed against fungus rather than instect.

@SchrodingersImmigrant

*Because your garden isn’t in balance. The pest insects outnumber the predators Balance doesn’t happen overnight, you need to give it time.*

We weren't stupid. I think everyone with common.sense gets that.

However, the garden isn't a separate element. It's affected by it's surroundings. And unless everyone including the farmer with crops behind our fence stops, well, balance won't appear even after few years.

It's also not just insects. It's ilnesses too. Iirc we sprayed against fungus rather than instect.

Exactly. We have fields behind our garden, and every spring without fail the farmer sprays it. They've also started using weed killer along the edges. It makes me so angry every time I go past it. However, I have been waiting for 4 years for my plum tree to recover naturally from leaf curl aphids, but each summer it looks worse :-(.

Everywhere needs more trees. Sounds like your neighbourhood needs cleaning up a bit too.

You aren't going to make deprived people care about their environment by planting a few trees. You need to reduce poverty and deprivation and give people pride in themselves and a stake in their future. This sort of policy is just window dressing and will be a complete waste of money.

@EssentialHummus

Hmm. I don't know Stevenage but from your descriptions some parks/public areas wouldn't go amiss.

There was a thread on here a while ago about / touching on fruit trees in common areas and the consensus was that they were a pain / that kids were just picking and chucking the fruit at each other / that nothing got eaten. And actually in the (park-filled, community minded) area I live in we have a community garden that is really neglected - 1.5 volunteers involved, and stuff frequently going to waste.

On a UKIP leaflet it sounds a bit "That sounds nice, bung it in" imo.

Stevenage has tons of both, a bloody enormous central park with boating lake, other parks, woodlands on outskirts. Cycle lanes under the roads.

cant have enough trees!!

Do the UKippers realize that apples were originally imported from overseas? Apples are immigrant fruits

In seriousness, more fruit trees will improve most towns, but if Stevenage is anything like as deprived as it was when I lived there in the 90s, there are probably more useful ways to spend the money.

@ElephantsNest

Do the UKippers realize that apples were originally imported from overseas? Apples are immigrant fruits

😂