Get seed gathering to grow more trees for London
Seed Gathering Season – 23 September to 23 October 2011
Londoners are being challenged to get seed gathering to grow new trees – for their own patch or to offer to a good home through a new initiative called the London Tree Exchange which the Tree Council has just launched for Seed Gathering Season.
The Tree Exchange is part of the Londoners Love Trees initiative, funded by Mayor Boris Johnson's Team London volunteering programme. The Mayor has the aim to get 4,000 Londoners involved in growing, planting, surveying and caring for urban trees through this initiative.
The Tree Council’s Seed Gathering Season starts on 23 September (the autumn equinox) and continues until 23 October. The Tree Council is advising that it is now the perfect time to collect local seeds to germinate over the winter and then grow into much-needed new trees for the capital. These could then be planted out in the community or offered to other neighbourhoods who need them – and that’s where The Tree Council’s London Tree Exchange comes in.
The Mayor of London Boris Johnson said: “I want to bring the best of the 'village' into the city. Encouraging more trees and more people to plant and care for them is one way I am doing this. Foraging for seeds is a cheap and fun way for Londoners of all ages to get involved in making our city a more beautiful, leafy place and a great way to embrace the first joys of Autumn.”
Tree Council director-general Pauline Buchanan Black said: “If you have free young trees to offer or are looking for some to plant, you can log the details on our new Tree Exchange which is a sort of swap shop we’ve just launched on our website specially for Londoners Love Trees.
“Growing trees from seed is something everyone can enjoy doing – even in a school classroom or a window box – but not everyone has space to plant them out where they can thrive and grow to maturity. But other people could be looking for more trees, perhaps even of a particular type that is especially suitable for the planting site they have in mind. That’s why we’ve created our London Tree Exchange.”
People who may need extra trees to green their communities are London’s increasing number of volunteers who belong to The Tree Council’s national Tree Warden Scheme. For Seed Gathering Season, The Tree Council is working with the capital’s Tree Wardens to set up community tree nurseries. It is also working with London tree officers to develop more Tree Warden networks over the coming months.
“We are aiming to involve as many volunteers as possible in looking after the capital’s biggest environmental asset – its trees,” said Pauline Buchanan Black.
Londoners Love Trees and the Tree Exchange is being delivered through The Tree Council and Trees for Cities, working with the London Tree Officers Association and Barcham Trees, with support from the Greater London Authority and Forestry Commission, to get 4,000 Londoners involved in growing, planting, surveying and caring for urban trees. Londoners Love Trees also forms part of RE:LEAF, the Mayor's wider campaign to increase London’s tree cover.
Register for the Londoners Love Trees programme at www.treesforcities.org/get-involved/volunteer/
