Wednesday 15 February 2017

Mass tree planting in the Lakes

National Trust Rangers, volunteers, local residents and school children gathered together to plant a variety of different trees across the Lake District on 10 February 2017. This was the first ever mass tree planting that the National Trust have organised in the Lakes on the same date and approximately 1400 trees were planted - some of which will be the wonderful veterans of the future.
Over 90 people took part at five sites spreading the length and width of the Lake District, including; Glencoyne Park in Ullswater, Hoathwaite in Coniston, Wasdale, Fell Foot on the shore of Lake Windermere, and Coledale, near the village of Braithwaite.


Our job in Ullswater was to concentrate on Gelncyone Park


Glencoyne Park is an ancient deer park that date back 100s of years. the park holds numerous amounts of veteran trees


in 2013 Stephen Dowson (Area Ranger) picked some crab apples from the veteran crab apple trees in the park.


These apples where sent off to the National Trust conservation center in Devon.


Over the three years since picking the seeds they have grown into saplings and on Friday the 10'th of February they were planted back in the park where they were picked.


There were 30 crab apple trees to be planted; due to Glencoyne being an old deer park there is still a wild herd of deer that can be found in the park, as well as the 12 cattle that graze the land. This meant that each tree had to be planted inside a deer and cow proof tree cage.


So prior to the planting taking place on the Friday material had to be carried out to site.




There were a lot of posts and rails to be carried out; each cage required 14 rails and 4 posts.


A mixture of volunteers, staff and a quad bike helped get everything to site.






Once the 30 sites had been selected the cages could be built.




And finally once the cages had been built the trees could be planted. Luckily we had lots of little hands to help us.




Patterdale Primary school came to lend a hand.


We all had a thoroughly enjoyable day.




Lets hope that in 100-200 years time these will be the veteran trees of the future.


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