the Western Hemisphere, and lavender from south Europe.
Nature and Its Health
Pollution has already affected half of Britain’s trees. Visible symptoms like
sparse foliage, broken tops, bare branches, or trees to which autumn
seems to come early are the outward signs of complex internal problems.
A survey done in 1991 showed that 56.7 percent of British trees had lost
more than a quarter of their leaves. Britain ranks worst out of the whole
of Europe: even heavily polluted Poland and the Czech Republic have
relatively healthier trees. A combination of pollution and drought, with
ensuing infestations of insects and fungi, seems to be the problem,
resulting in the trees’ natural defense systems becoming weaker and
weaker. This problem mirrors humans’ own alarming global rise in
14 The Complete Home Guide to Herbs, Natural Healing, and Nutrition
Traditional “tree dressing” in the winter months