Trees for projects or foster care
Working with the Forestry Commission we have trees that need planting or a temporary home until the autumn - please see the attached and fill in the registration form if you can help!!
Form - https://forms.gle/JpmJDbdA1Guauku26
We are passing on surplus trees, locally propagated or nurtured. These trees are surplus as CoVid 19, seasonal upsets, cold, heat etc. have messed with planting plans. They can be planted soon, as they're still in cold-storage. They are all chosen as either native species or as suitable as more resilient replacement varieties that will still support wildlife.
Mostly they suit large areas as they can grow big.
Some, however, make excellent hedges. They’ll do well in community woodlands, schools, community groups, private sites where the public can enjoy them, such as alongside footpaths or in residential care homes. They can be put in temporary planters for use by communities as part of regenerating their area.
We don't want to waste the opportunity of these trees, which would otherwise be dumped, but we need the right trees to be planted in the right place in the right way.
So, to make sure we're passing on trees that have the best chances of thriving:
This is the checklist:
• Have you a suitable permanent site for what will grow into a big tree or a hedge, with the site owner's permission for planting?
• Or do you just want to “foster” trees to grow on in pots, raised beds or trenches for moving and re-planting if you can pass them back for next season’s planting. As an example, we are asking some gardeners, allotments and grower groups to give some space to trees which we can then use LATER on site in parks, streets and other public authority sites and schemes. (We can’t plant on those at the moment: all of these sites should fit in with the park’s management plans and need permission and careful consideration, and none are agreed or prepared yet)
• Can you plant trees, while maintaining social distancing and safety? (1 to 3 feet tall)
• Can you make sure they are looked after, such as watering them over the Summer?
If you’re contacting on behalf of a school, contact your Eco-Schools Adviser if you have one, or fill in the form specifying clearly which area you are in.
Remember that good tree practice insists on the right tree in the right place – trees that are not looked after or fail, just discourage the public from taking an interest in trees and protecting them.Shoving trees into odd corners or in streets without permission and planning, is a bigger waste than if they'd just been chipped, shredded and composted, and guerilla planting can be a disaster which loses friends and makes planned sustainable planting harder in the future!
finally, these trees should eventually be planted in a community space - somewhere where the public can see and enjoy them.