Plymouth is set to benefit from at least 2,000 new trees this winter.
Between now and April, teams will be visiting neighbourhoods throughout the city to plant a variety of different whips, maiden fruit trees and standards.
Nearly all of the trees will be accessible throughout public places such as parks and open spaces, road verges, residential streets and outside housing developments, maximising the positive impact for people and nature across the city.
Highlights of the city-wide planting schedule, funded and supported by Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest (PSDCF), include:
Collings Park – scheme designed by the Forest Rising youth programme alongside community groups, residents and primary schools to plant trees and other landscape enhancements to provide a more nature rich and accessible green space for the local community.
Central Park Golf Course – Working with the Central Park Golf Hut, includes an edible hedge, orchard, high density woodland and avenue trees across the site. Other enhancements include additional seating areas, interpretation boards, and over 1,000m² of cut and bail wildflower meadow.
Southway – More than 100 large trees including a new community orchard are to be planted on verges and in residential pocket green spaces, acting a great stepping stone habitat for wildlife from nearby farmland and serving the community for generations to come.
Hoe Park – Working with local stakeholders, a mixture of 15 fruit trees will be planted next to the existing orchard, behind the Hoe Clock Garden.
Councillor Tom Briars-Delve, Cabinet member for the Environment and Climate Change, said: "Another year, another bumper tree planting programme. I can't wait to get started!
"Our tree planting record over the last few years speaks for itself. Thanks to our involvement in the funding and running of the Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest, we have been able to significantly improve the tree coverage across our city.
"I look forward to planting a few of the 2,000 myself."
The planting will be made up of more than 1,500 whips, over 70 maiden fruit trees, and 450 standards.
Whips are young and slender trees, often just a few feet tall at the time of planting, you’ll be able to recognise these as they are often fit with tubular rabbit and deer guards.
A maiden is a smaller tree, usually three to five foot tall while a standard is a large tree that at the time of planting is already six to ten feet tall, having been grown in a nursery for several years, these require the most aftercare while they establish but offer instant visual impact so are the preferred choice for urban areas such as streets and parks.
This season's schedule includes planting fewer whips, but more fruit trees and standards. Planting these bigger, more established specimens is far more time consuming than planting whips but give immediate benefits to residents in terms of carbon capture and canopy cover.
Launched in September 2020, PSDCF has facilitated the planting of over 180,000+ trees across 155 sites.
Stretching from the South Devon coast to the rolling landscape of Dartmoor National Park, by April 2025 we aim to have planted a further 200,000 trees across our project area, creating a mosaic of native broadleaf, orchards, hedgerows, areas of natural regeneration, wood pasture and productive woodland.
Unlike traditional forests, the community forest won't be geographically restricted to one place. Instead, it will encompass a mix of community woodland, private woodland, on street, urban woodland, wooded habitat corridors and hedgerows.
Most of the schemes delivered across the city are requested by and co-designed with residents and community groups. If you would like to hear more about the PSDCF project, please contact [email protected], and keep an eye on PSDCF and PCC socials for updates.
The Plymouth and South Devon Community Forest is a partnership between Plymouth City Council, National Trust, Woodland Trust, South Hams District Council and West Devon Borough Council, Dartmoor National Park Authority, Devon County Council, West Devon Borough Council and is funded through the DEFRA Nature for Climate fund.