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Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children

Number 96

Street Trees

 

 Hello Everyone

 

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The Rocky Bay District Council is very keen on planting trees in public spaces.  

 

And we are now in the perfect season for planting trees.

 

Trees don’t just look beautiful, they are wonderful for the environment as well; because in a way they ‘eat pollution’ and change the harmful gases into oxygen. We need oxygen to breathe.

 

Tree-lined streets look more attractive than those without trees. ln fact, houses in streets with trees are very often more expensive to buy than those in streets without trees.

 

Trees are good for people’s health both physically and mentally because they reduce pollution and give people a ‘feel good factor’! That is why people in hospitals with gardens get better more quickly.

 

Also, apparently, people visit parks more when they have trees in them.

 

Planting trees in inner city areas has even been found to reduce crime! People feel better about the place they live and luckier to be there.

 

Trees seem to have a calming effect on people.

 

Shelter from trees can reduce energy bills in nearby buildings by up to 10% because they give shade from the hot sun and protection from cold winds. They also collect rainwater in their leaves, branches and roots and so can help to reduce the risk of flash flooding.

 

ln cities now, many people have paved over their front gardens. ln London, for example, these paved front gardens now account for an area of more than 12 square miles! Maybe house owners have done this because they don’t want to do any gardening and sometimes their front garden is the only place they can park their car. Because these gardens have no earth to absorb water, the roads then flood more easily.

 

Trees reduce noise pollution as well because they absorb sound.

 

And a growing tree will benefit the environment in polluted places even more than a full-grown one because they ‘eat more pollution’. That is why it is important to plant baby trees – these are called saplings.

 

Actually, the money it costs to plant trees is paid back many times over because of the benefits they provide. smile1 (2) 

 

lf you see some newly-planted trees near to where you live, you will probably see a plastic tube in the grass or earth next to them.

 

They might even have a label on them asking you to water them if the weather gets really dry.

 

So if you can give small trees outside your house a watering can of water in the hot weather, they would be really grateful. Just take the rose off the end of the spout and pour the water down their drinking tube! Give them as much as you can carry out to them.

 

Another way you can look after trees is to never pull their bark off because without bark a tree will die. They can recover from losing small patches if they get hit by a car or lorry, but not if it is stripped off all the way around.

 

You can even start growing your own trees if you have room!

 

Have you ever done that?

 

 

Bye bye everyone – don’t forget to subscribe to my blog!

 

Love and kisses

 

 

Salty Sam

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www.christina-sinclair.com

 

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Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Weekjokejoke

 

Bob: What is big, green and ugly and never smiles?

 

Bill: l don’t know. What is big and green and ugly and never smiles?

 

Bob: The lncredible Sulk!

 
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Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015

Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.

Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com

 
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Picture Gallery

 
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Jacaranda trees in Australia

 

image009 A snow-covered avenue in Kansas City

 

image010 A London street lamp

(The tree on the right is called a London plane and is very good at withstanding city pollution)

 
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Sakura tree – Japan is famous for its cherry blossom in the spring

 

image012 Different types of trees suit different areas

 

image015 The seeds on a London plane tree look like bobbles

 

image017 A drinking tube next to a street tree and its stake

 

image019 Spring time blossom in England

 

image021 Street tree blossom in England

 

image023 Street tree blossom in the springtime in England

 

image025 Street trees can have lots or interesting shapes and colours

 
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And interesting bark – does this look like a bird to you?

 

image029 They provide colour in the autumn when their leaves change

 

image031 A tree-lined street is called an avenue

 

image033 Tree berries are colourful too (Whitebeam)

 

image035 Street trees can be quite exotic in warmer parts of the country

 

image037 A strawberry tree (no they are not real strawberries!)

 

image039 There is always room to squeeze one more tree in smile1 (2)

(Whitehall Court)

 

image041 Little Britain 

 

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    desk  THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESKlamp

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Auntie Alice has finished writing out the pattern for the pink sweater she knitted for Emily’s twelve inch doll, so I can give it to you here. It goes with the black jeans pattern on Blog Post 87.

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NEWSDESK MINIMAKE

A 12” DOLL PINK SWEATER

 

PINK SWEATER BACK AND FRONT (KNIT TWO)

Using 3½mm knitting needles and pink dk yarn cast on 20 stitches

 
Purl 1 row

 
Purl 1 row

Knit 1 row

Purl 1 row

Purl 1 row

 
Repeat the last 4 rows 5 times

 
Knit 1 row

Cast off

 

SLEEVES (KNIT TWO)

Using 3½mm knitting needles and pink dk yarn cast on 10 stitches

 
Purl 1 row

Purl 1 row

Knit 20 rows of stocking stitch

Cast off loosely

 
(You can cast on 12 stitches if you want looser sleeves or if your knitting is very tight)

 
TO MAKE UP

Use over-sewing to sew the garment together to ensure fit and reduce bulk in the seams.

Sew shoulder seams up 2cm/¾inch from arm end.

Sew sleeves to shoulder.

Sew underarm and side seams.

 

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Quick Quiz 

 

Can you put these into order of size?

 

  • path
  • road
  • lane
  • motorway
  • dual carriageway
  • alleyway

 

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BLOW MY FOGHORN!!! 

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weekend

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lt’s the Weekend! 
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HOW TO GROW PlPS

 
It’s simple – when you eat fruit you often find pips inside. Plant them in plant pots in a place with plenty of light and see what happens!

Make sure they don’t get too baked in hot sun or go short of water.

 

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ORANGE, LEMON, LIME, GRAPEFRUIT

If you plant these pips and they start to turn into plants, this is how you can treat them to make them happy.

Citrus trees need slightly acid, well-drained soil and a high, nitrogen feed in the summer. They need to be re-potted in the spring.

They like to be very warm and they like lots of fresh air. So in the summer they can be outside and in winter they prefer to be in a cool conservatory away from frost.

They love to have water on their leaves, so you can mist them if they are inside and spray a hose pipe on them when they are outside.

Water their roots every week in the summer, but hardly at all in the winter. They need high humidity though, so keep them on a tray of gravel and well away from radiators and draughts.

Lemons are the easiest citrus to grow and grapefruits are the most difficult. Grapefruits will only grow on a very big tree and all citrus fruits take many months to ripen fully. If you ever get fruits on them only leave about four to grow otherwise the tree will get stressed.

Citrus trees have to be grown by gardeners with a lot of patience.

 

image058 An orange tree

 
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 A lemon tree – you can see a ripening lemon in the middle

 
APPLE, PEAR, PLUM, GREENGAGE, CHERRY

If you are lucky enough to get these pips and stones to grow, then look after them like house plants until they are about 10-30cm tall or until you feel they are strong enough to be outside and then put them out in the garden where they will be in their natural environment.

Spring is probably the best time, when the weather is warming up and the worst of the winter cold has gone.

 
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A ripe pear

 
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A September crop of apples

 
Don’t let your plants dry out if they are in little pots, and protect them from very cold weather because roots are more vulnerable to frost attack if they are in a pot rather than in the ground. If you plant them in the ground, put a cloche or plastic tube or wire netting around each plant otherwise a naughty rabbit might eat them before they have a chance to grow big.

Never let trees be choked by grass because they will struggle too much to try and survive. Keep a patch of bare soil around them at all times – you can even put some mulch around them to keep the weeds away.

 
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Apple trees can be quite small

 
PEACH, APRICOT, FIG

If you want to grow these outside, then you have to be living in the warmer parts of Britain. Plant them outside in a very sheltered place against a south facing wall. Brick walls act like outside radiators; they store heat from the sun and create a more snuggly environment for a tree than in the middle of a lawn.

If you want to be really sure that your trees are protected, it is better to keep these types in a green house.

 
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A fig tree needs shelter from cold weather

 
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You can get two crops of figs a year if you keep a fig tree in a really warm place

(You can see two figs in the top left-hand corner of the picture)

 
Eventually, if you look after your trees really well, you might even have a crop of fruit one day! 
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Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.

It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.

Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.

©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015sand

  

 

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Quick Quiz Answers 

 

From smallest to biggest:-

 

  • path
  • alleyway
  • lane
  • road
  • dual carriageway
  • motorway

 
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 An alley can be a narrow route between buildings or trees

 
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Has Jack Frost visited this wood? smile1 (2)

(Robin Manges) 

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