Tree planting season ends

Thu 18 Apr 2024
We have now reached the end of tree planting season and it has been a huge success.
We have planted 22 large trees across 5 of our parks and across open public spaces in Derby city thanks to funding from Trees for Cities. The trees have been planted at Rykneld Recreation Ground, Vicarage Recreation Ground, St. Andrew’s View Recreation Ground, Elm Wood Local Nature Reserve and Boulton Lane Recreation Ground. The trees were planted in partnership with Trees for Cities, as well as local residents and community groups.
We have also planted over five thousand whips this season across our parks. Whips are young (seed-grown) trees which have not been pruned. This was a fantastic achievement which was only achieved through donations from various sources including the Butterfly Conservation Trust, Woodland Trust, and EForests. This was a huge job which was made possible by people from Trees for Derby, Trees for Spondon, and various friends groups from across the city coming together to plant the whips.
In November of last year, 160 trees were given to households and schools in Derby thanks to Our City, Our River (OCOR) Garden Trees Scheme. 102 households took part in the scheme and the rest of the trees were distributed to schools. As of November 2023, OCOR has planted 433 trees which has more than replaced the trees that were removed when new flood defences were installed. These trees were planned as part of Our City, Our River’s flood defence scheme. They are looking to plant a further 1422 in the coming years. The trees that were planted in November are now starting to flower and produce fruit.
At Sinfin Recreation Ground, two new orchard extensions have been created by volunteers from Friends of Sinfin Moor Park LNR and Friends of Chellaston Brickworks on Sinfin and Pit Close Recreation Grounds respectively. This included a range of different varieties of apples, pears and plums.
The benefits of the orchard will be seen as the trees develop. In time, they will be full of fruit and park users will be able to help themselves to a healthy snack. This is the first phase of works to make Sinfin Recreation Ground more vibrant and attractive and create an environment that encourages individuals and families to spend their leisure time there.
Finally, Derby has joined with other councils to help create the Heartwood Community Forest. The community forest will stretch over a geographic area of 289 square miles. You can find out more about the Heartwood Community Forest by visiting the Derbyshire County Council webpage.
Even though tree planting season is over, there are plenty of volunteering opportunities coming up over the summer. If you have some spare time and want to get your hands dirty, think about joining one of the volunteering groups based in Derby.