Snowy National Tree Week
Many events scheduled for National Tree Week were hit by snow, but it was not just Walsall Tree Wardens who were able to go ahead with some of their plans that week. Portsmouth and Southsea Tree Wardens, for example, joined their Lord Mayor for a commemorative tree planting.
They and local school pupils helped the Lord Mayor of Portsmouth, Councillor Paula Riches, plant a red sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus 'Spaethii') on 30 November to celebrate 20 years of the national Tree Warden Scheme. The choice of species was in keeping with the other trees in the windswept coastal location. The network will be launching a 'Favourite Trees' initiative which will run during 2011, and has produced A Green Walk in Old Portsmouth leaflet, authored by Tree Warden Jackie Baynes.
And although the freezing conditions played havoc with Wakefield Tree Wardens’ events, it did not dent their enthusiasm. Their planned native woodland planting at Haw Park Wood was frozen out on 28 November, but during a brief thaw they managed to plant over 400 trees, leaving about 400 more for when the ground thawed again during the Christmas period. Another event scheduled for the end of National Tree Week had to be postponed until the end of January, but that has now been completed. But even in the cold weather they were busy making country benches for one of their joint venture project sites at Lawns Dike, Newmillerdam, where they are working with the Friends Group.
Warwick Tree Wardens fortunately had an indoor event planned for National Tree Week –their annual Christmas Party. This featured a talk on trees around the world, a tree quiz and the amazing after dinner event of “making a tree”. Each group of Tree Wardens was supplied with plant material and encouraged to create a tree from scratch.
Much hilarity followed, but the winning tree, produced on a table captained by Steven Falk from Warwick Museum Service, was a sight to behold (see left). Steven has also just recorded this wild pear tree – the largest in the country. It is located in mid Warwickshire, a few metres south of South Cubbington Wood. The trunk is solid up to 1m, where it branches, and has a girth of 3.78m at 50cm.
