Trees for Every House
We offered every household in Winchfield the opportunity to be part of the tree planting initiative of the Queen’s Green Canopy in Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee and were overwhelmed by the response.
Three programmes were available:
- For those who only have small gardens, we offered up to two trees for each home
- For landowners with significant space, we are offered a larger quantity of trees.
- For those that had an area of hedgerow that need replacing/renewing a pack of native hedging plants was offered.
Winchfield Parish Council has approved a programme of tree and hedge planting within the Parish, which we hope will provide environmental and aesthetic improvements over a period of years. We aim to plant 1000 trees over the next 5 years, equating to approximately one tree per residence per year as well as 500m of native hedgerows.
The project will, in only a few years, provide nesting sites and safe corridors for wildlife whilst helping to tackle the climate crisis by capturing carbon in both trees and hedgerows.
In order to get the most benefit we are purchasing small trees (whips) and hedgerow packs which will take a few years to really grow and provide the best enjoyment so please don’t expect instant colour and cover – this is a programme for the future. Please also note that it cannot be guaranteed that all trees will survive – their care and maintenance will fall to those whose land they are planted on, but by planting 1000 trees and 500m of hedgerow in total, we would expect a large proportion to thrive and provide benefits to us all for many years.
In 2022 over 200 trees and over 2000 hedging plants were planted in early December.
We hope to continue this project in 2023 when we find even more hedgerows that need renewing or gaps where trees could be planted. If you would like to suggest locations where we could plant more trees or hedges, please feel free to contact us and we will consider these as part of the 2023 planting programme.
Send your suggestions to: winchfieldparishclerk@outlook.com who will pass them on.
With thanks from your Parish Councillors.