Community gets together to plant trees
A project to plant trees in 15 different sites across the borough has been successfully completed.
The community tree planting project was delivered by the council’s trees and parks teams in association with local schools, community groups, residents and parks friends’ groups.
The council successfully applied for £17,800 from the Greater London Authority’s Greener City Fund, and put in an additional £7,400 to buy and plant the trees.
Residents from the Dover House Estate in Putney, led by Allison Waterhouse, Sabine Sorgel and Julian Berry, planted 26 trees in residential streets.
Eight trees were planted on Tooting Common near Emmanuel Road. Students from Telferscot Primary School read their own poems to the trees and gave offerings of nutrients to wish the trees well. They also met a tree surgeon and went on a wildlife walk.
The Tooting Common Friends and MAC planted six native trees in the café woods and the Woodfield Project planted two native trees at the Woodfield Recreation ground.
Honeywell Primary School also collaborated with Wandsworth Council in the tree planting scheme, assisting at Wandsworth Common.
Trees planted as part of the Greener City Fund initiative are in addition to the ongoing council tree planting programme. Over the past two years 1,240 trees have been planted all over the borough with more being planted this winter.
In total the council looks after roughly 60,000 trees in its parks, commons and open spaces while around 15,000 grow in residential streets and on the borough’s housing estates.
Cabinet member for community services and open spaces, Cllr Steffi Sutters, said:
The council’s tree strategy includes actions of planting, protecting and celebrating the borough’s trees, with input from local community groups and the volunteer Wandsworth Tree Wardens. The tree department is managed by Enable Leisure and culture on behalf of Wandsworth Council. Find out more at https://enablelc.org/parks/trees/