How To Plant Trees
TREES
Need to be planted between November to March when the roots are dormant. Ideally, the tree will be between 1 - 2 years old and will be between 40 - 60 cm tall.
BEFORE YOUR START
Homemade Tree Guards:
Step 1: Get a two, one litre recycled plastic bottle.
Step 2: Cut the top and the bottom off them.
Step 3: Connect the two plastic bottles with some tap.
Step 4: Cut two 4cm horizontal slits in the side of the plastic bottles.
Step 5: Feed your cane through the slits.
ON THE DAY
Step 1: Dig a hole that can fit your tree's roots in it.
Step 2: Loosen the soil.
Step 3: Put the tree in the whole.
Step 4: Backfill the hole with the soil, make sure you cover all the roots and go up the tree stem a 2 cm.
Step 5: Push the soil down with your boot to compress and make the tree secure.
MAINTENANCE
1-2 Years
Weed Management: To encourage unchecked growth and remove competition for moisture and nutrients. Removing weeds up to 1m in diameter around each tree significantly improves survival and growth rates, do this for 2-3 years. How to: You can suppress weeds with mulch, such as bark chips or straw bales. Apply it to a depth of around 10cm to prevent it from being blown away or dispersed, and top it up annually. You can also buy mulch mats and peg them into the ground to keep them in place.
Tree Guard: protect against harsh winds.
3-10 Years
Remove the guards.
Pruning to help the tree grow upwards rather than outwards
Coppicing: cutting a tree at its base to encourage new growth. This method also helps light reach the woodland floor.
AFTERLIFE MAINTENANCE
10-15 Years Thinning: cutting 1 out of 5 trees will give the remaining trees more space, light, nutrition and water, allowing them to develop into stronger trees. Afterlife Best Practice: leave the decaying tree on site as it is a vital part of biodiversity and is critical at supporting the forests ecosystem.
​
​