222 FOR 2022 – Our Tree Planting Target
222FOR2022
Can You Help Us Hit Our Tree-Planting Target?
As part of Evington Community Nature Reserve we are hoping to provide at least 222 small trees for gardens and green spaces in Evington in early 2022. By investing some of Friends of Evington’s funding under the ‘People and Pollinators’ grant, these trees will be free to those residents who would like one for their garden.
Not every garden has a lot of space and so we will provide trees that can be kept to almost any height and spread as their owners prefer.
Trees are brilliant at lots of things that improve our local environment, like producing blossom, fruit and nuts, as well as shade. They also provide a home and food for a whole range of beneficial creatures such as moths, birds, bees, hoverflies and butterflies. Above all they form a terrific shield from pollution and absorb carbon dioxide from the air as they grow. If you plant one of these trees in your garden, you will be taking a small step to reducing your carbon footprint and helping fight the climate crisis! Obviously, if we achieve our target of planting 222 trees, that’s a much greater step for our community.
So, what can you expect if you volunteer to plant a free tree in your garden?
The trees we are going to supply will be crab apple, hazelnut and bird cherry. We will deliver them in January or February 2022.
You will receive a tree in the very early stages of its growth – it will be about half a metre tall. In addition, the tree will be supplied as a ‘bare root’ – in other words, not in a pot of soil. This means your new tree will look rather like a stick with roots.
To plant your tree, all you will need to do is make a slit in the ground, pop the tree into the slit, root-first, and close the soil around the roots – easy.
As spring comes round, you will see your ‘stick’ burst into life and send out its first leaves and shoots. My wife and I put similar trees into our garden in 2019 and they are now almost two metres tall; yours might be a similar height in 2024.
The trees will be extremely easy to care for as they are native plants and very happy in our climate. They should only need to be cut back each winter – this will help make them nice and bushy and keep them to the size you want. We will provide guidance on what to do.
As very young trees, they will not produce blossom or fruit for the first two to three years but, after that, you will be rewarded with a lovely display every spring.
For people who have enough space, we may be able to get you more than one tree – just let us know how many you would like and we’ll let you know how many we are able to give you. For the moment, we only need to know the number and type of tree you would like.
To reserve your free tree(s) just email us on contact@littlegreenshoots.uk
Jeff Henry (Trustee, Friends of Evington)
