Lincolnshire residents took advantage of the county council’s LincWoods tree planting project giveaway – and bagged a brilliant horticultural haul!
Following the free tree team-up between Lincolnshire County Council and the Woodland Trust as part of National Tree Week in November 2024, the latest giveaway of greenery saw 6,000 trees given away to be planted in the county.
Tattershall Waste and Recycling Centre was the venue as a total of 40 complete planting packs comprising plant protection materials, trees and hedging plants were handed over to farmers and landowners of Lincolnshire.
To get either a tree or hedgerow planting pack, residents registered via Eventbrite prior to the event and then collected the tree and hedgerow packs from the centre.
Local county Cllr Tom Ashton was on-hand to help with the handing out of tree care information, kits and the plants themselves. He said: “I am absolutely delighted that we can offer these products to Lincolnshire residents in this way.
“Trees and hedgerows are such a vitally important part of our natural landscape. The multifunctional benefits of planting trees and hedges are obvious, improving the wellbeing of wildlife, overall health of the countryside and positively impacting people who live in it and enjoy it.
“In working with our partners, I am thrilled that LCC can be such a positive force to help promote tree and hedgerow planting in Lincolnshire. This will have a lasting legacy for years to come.
One of the residents taking up the offer was Charlie Brunton of C M Brunton Farming, Long Bennington, Grantham. The first person to arrive at the recycling centre to collect a planting pack, Charlie said: “I saw the offer and thought it was a very good idea. It’s great to see something positive like this about planting trees and hedgerows.
“This pack will go into a field where I have stables, the hedging there is established but there are some gaps, so I plan to use these plants to fill in where needed and extend the planting a bit further along too. The trees will continue the line in the field to hopefully form some sort of spinney.
“I’ve got a lot of wildlife all around where I live and doing this is such a positive way to encourage what’s there and hopefully attract even more.”
Harriet Winspear, Natural Environment Project officer at Lincolnshire County Council said: “Our previous tree and hedgerow giveaways were a real success with high demand, and this is a continuation of those efforts. It’s great to see more planting packs going to residents who want to do some real environmental good in the county.”
What’s in the packs?
Each free tree pack contained 50 trees, stakes and tree guards and were mix of small-leaved lime, hornbeam, english oak, field maple, wild cherry and hazel.
The free hedge packs included 250 hedging plants, a native mix of hawthorn, hazel, dogwood, dog rose and blackthorn along with canes and spiral guards. Enough to create up to 50m of double-row hedgerow.
How do I get my hands on these?
To find out more information about our LincWoods tree planting project, go to: www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/trees.
Once you’ve submitted your application, we will be able to advise you on best practice, management and things like funding options available to help increase tree planting as part of the offer around native planting schemes in the county.
If you are planting a single tree in your back garden or planting hundreds of trees around a farm, you can register the trees using the tree planting form. They will all be counted towards the countywide tree planting ambition. You can play a part, whatever the size of your planting project.
For further information please email us at LincWoods@lincolnshire.gov.uk.
Tree stats that make you think!
Lincolnshire has one of the lowest tree cover rates in the UK at just under 4%, compared to a national average of 13%. Lincolnshire County Council has a goal of planting 750,000 trees across the county. To work towards this, LincWoods – Lincolnshire County Council’s tree planting project – has been developed and we are working in partnership with the Woodland Trust and Forestry Commission.
What we are doing to improve things?
We are working with landowners, farmers, businesses, parish councils and communities of Lincolnshire to support the planting of new woodlands, hedgerows, orchards and individual trees.
The best bit is that we can offer free help and advice on everything from which species to go for, protection, management, funding and grant options available on a site-specific basis.