Tree planting - photos from round 1 and an announcement on more to come
Post date: 07-Feb-2015 20:42:48
The orchard planting on 25 January was very enjoyable and successful. Five new trees have been added, and you can see residents mucking in here:
The good news is that there are even more trees to come!
We have been successful in our application to the Woodland Trust for a tree pack containing 420 whips. This is quite a different proposition to the fruit trees. The whips are much smaller, between 40 and 60cm high, and the general consensus when we met with the Woodland Trust Champion is that the best use of them would be to plant them to create more hedge around the park perimeter. We chose the Mixed Harvest pack which contains several species ideal for this purpose: Dogwood, Hazel, Dogrose, Crab Apple and Elder.
The whips have been donated to us, there is no cost implication. All that is asked is that as a community we plant them and do our best to ensure that they flourish (a bit of weeding, pruning and watering when required). Lambeth have agreed to maintain the whips once they have matured into the hedge.
When
The whips are scheduled to be delivered to us in a months time in the first week of March and are bare rooted. It is important that they are planted as soon as possible. The proposed planting date is Sunday 8 March from 10 am.
Please join us for at 10 or at any time in the day you can spare an hour or so in whatever capacity: planting, weeding, refreshing, documenting, chatting, encouraging........The more of us, the merrier it will undoubtedly be.
Planting Location
The 420 whips will equate to approximately 85 meters of new hedge. We do not necessarily have to plant them all in one length; we can divide the whips into several locations such as on either side of the dog park and either side of the playground. There are not enough whips to go around the entire park but if these prove successful we can apply for more tree packs in the future, if we want to, and over time may be able to create a hedge around the whole park.
Tools
The planting method advised is to push a spade in to the ground, lever it forward and place the whip roots into the gap created. There is no need for lots of digging of big holes or trenches although clearing the immediate area of weeds and grass is required.
If you can come to help that would be brilliant and if you can bring a garden spade and any other tools you may think will be useful that would be great. A bucket would help too as the roots will need a soaking in water just prior to being planted. Canes and spirals are also being supplied which we can utilise if required.