Tips to keep planting in 2023

Trees and hedgerows do amazing things for the environment, capturing and storing carbon, mitigating some of its effects, preventing flooding and soil erosion and providing key habitats.

Thank you so much to everyone who volunteered with us over the last few months to help plant trees and hedgerows across the country. Across England, Scotland, and Wales we planted 12,420 trees creating 2.3km of hedgerow.

If you couldn’t plant trees with us this year but you still want to get involved there are plenty of ways you can get involved with tree planting in your area. 

  1. Plant trees in your area yourself

If you want to plant a tree on your own land, The Woodland Trust has a useful guide to ensure your tree has the best chance of survival.

However, even if you don’t have your own space in which to plant a tree, you can help get more trees planted in your local community. For step-by-step advice download your free copy of our Tree Town Guide which will help you get started mapping out locations, choosing tree species, and getting permission from local landowners. Local councils, schools, or community centers can all be particularly receptive. If you and your local school or community group want to plant trees together, you can even get them for free!

2. Volunteer with an existing tree-planting or rewilding project

Here are some of our favorite tree-planting and rewilding projects:

  • The Future Forest Network. Use this fantastic map to find tree-planting events listed by groups and organizations from across the country.

  • Volunteer with our friends at the Woodland Trust, running a variety of opportunities to help support woodlands across the UK.

  • Tree Planting UK. If you’re on Facebook, check out this inspiring community where tree knowledge and events, both big and small, are posted almost every day.

  • The Tree Council. Find out who your local tree warden is (or become one yourself) and find planting events in your local area.

Projects in specific locations:

  • Cambridge: 

    • COfarm Cambridge - Join this active group of volunteers planting oak saplings and hedgerows across farms in Cambridgeshire.

  • Scottish highlands:

    • Trees for Life offer the chance to take part in Conservation Weeks, where you can help rewild the Scottish Highlands by restoring the ancient Caledonian Forest. They run regular volunteer days for anyone living nearby, but also volunteering weeks which provide an opportunity to escape into the Highlands and really immerse yourself in nature.

  • London

    • London-based Trees for Cities work both nationally and internationally to fill our streets and schoolyards with trees, as well as helping schools to create their own edible playgrounds and teach their pupils about our food system. Since 1993 they’ve planted over a million trees and engaged over 80,000 volunteers.

  • Warwickshire and Worcestershire

    • The crew behind the Heart of England forest have a vision - to plant, protect, and preserve a new broadleaf forest along the border between Warwickshire and Worcestershire. There are volunteering sessions every Tuesday and Thursday and one Saturday each month.

3. Support tree-planting and rewilding projects

If planting trees yourself is not an option you can always donate. In addition to supporting organisations undertaking mass tree-planting and rewilding projects, it’s a good idea to give to organisations working for indigenous rights. 

Reports have shown that areas owned and managed by indigenous communities store vast amounts of carbon, and these communities are best placed to protect these areas from threats of deforestation posed by governments and corporations looking to exploit the land for profit.

Thanks again for joining us this season, and if you have any questions feel free to drop an email to hello@wearepossible.org. 

hedge fund / tree townLucia Skelton