The Woodland Trust has a scheme called 'Free trees for schools and communities'. They have thousands of trees to give away to schools and community organisations. Earlier this year we applied to this scheme and were successful in our application.
There are several different themed tree 'packs' of different sizes.
In November 2019, we will receive three different tree packs: 'year round colour'; 'wildlife'; and 'wild harvest'. In total we'll receive 420 trees of eleven different native species.
The year round colour pack contains: hawthorn, dogwood, wild cherry, silver birch, rowan, hazel. It offers beautiful blossoms, colourful berries and autumn colours. There will be some colour even in winter with the bright red stems of dogwood livening up a frosty morning.
The wildlife pack contains: hawthorn, rowan, blackthorn, silver birch, hazel, common oak. This selection establishes food and shelter for wildlife, creating a living legacy for future generations. These trees will eventually provide nesting spaces for birds, roosts for bats, anchors for climbers such as ivy and honeysuckle (themselves, great for wildlife) and support literally thousands of species of plants, fungi, insects, birds and mammals.
The wild harvest pack contains: hazel, blackthorn, crab apple, dog rose, elder, rowan. This selection is not only to benefit the wood's wildlife, but its human visitors, too. These nuts and berries can be harvested and used to create a range of jams, jellies and even hazel nut butter! Or perhaps you might try your hand at wine making...
The trees are supplied as 'whips' tiny trees only about a foot long. They are, therefore, very easy to plant (so suitable for children to do), even though they're not very impressive looking at this stage!
The group will be running a couple of tree planting sessions during the winter. The dates will be published on this website and our Facebook page so, if you'd like to plant a tree or two, come down on the day. All are welcome. If you know any children who'd like to plant trees that will grow as they do, bring them along. Tree planting is one of the group's favourite activities. The trees will be carefully planted, in areas currently barren of trees, to replace barbed wire fences, and to fill spaces made by the removal of invasive species.
Seeing the trees take up previously unoccupied spaces, growing larger over time, is really satisfying. The largest tree we're planting, the oak, can live to over 500 years. So, it's possible that a tree we plant in 2019 might still be living in the wood in the year 2519! I think that's awesome. Hob Hey Wood is an ancient semi-natural woodland with many different species of tree present. The addition of these 420 trees will only enhance the wood's natural habitats and the enjoyment of visitors.
The Woodland Trust free trees scheme is still ongoing so if you know any school or other community organisation who needs trees, details of the scheme can be found here: https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/plant-trees/schools-and-communities/
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