This is at Elmstead Market (near Colchester) where I joined in a tree planting event on Saturday. It was organised by the Woodland Trust, and was part of a project to create a new forest. I went along with my spade and wellies and we were all shown how to dig a hole, pop in the sapling and firm it in, and put a cane and a plastic tube to protect the young tree. I was given holly, dogwood, hawthorn and dog rose saplings to plant, four at a time. Over a couple of hours I managed to plant 40 little saplings in the hedgerow area, but I think the goal for the day was to plant over 1,700 saplings, both hedgerow and the actual forest, though many hundreds had already been planted. It was a lovely sunny day, and quite a few people turned out to join in, including lots of families. Some even brought along a picnic and made a day out of it. The Woodland Trust people provided hot drinks and had a supply of spare spades of all sizes for people who didn't bring their own.
In a few years this area will be covered in lovely native trees, and the forest will be open to the public.
The Woodland Trust organise quite a few events around the country, so find out if there is one near you.
1 comment:
That's a fine job you're doing there. I wanted to be a forester when I was younger, until I realised that most of the work was cutting them down.
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