National Tree Week at Mires Beck
National Tree Week is the UK's largest annual tree celebration. The 28th November to the 6th December marks the start of the winter tree planting season which is the end of November to March.
The Tree Council first established National Tree Week in March 1975 because replanting of trees was required in the UK after a Dutch Elm Disease outbreak. Dutch Elm Disease is a disease caused by fungi that is spread by elm bark beetles. It causes rapid browning, shrivelling and the death of elm trees.
The Tree Council's member organisations (e.g. voluntary bodies, authorities, 200 schools and community groups, 6000 volunteer Tree Wardens, and many others) annually support Tree Week by setting up events every year.
This special week gives the community a chance to do something positive for their local trees, as well as discussing the importance of trees and key environmental issues.
To celebrate National Tree Week, we are planting trees as part of our woodland management programme.
This past year, we have grown 120,000 cell-grown trees, including Pedunculate Oak, Silver Birch, Goat Willow, Dog Rose, Wych Elm, and many more, which have been going out to forestry projects in East Yorkshire and North Lincolnshire.
Next year, we are planning to grow 348,000 cell-grown trees, and will be selling our cell-grown trees and hedgerow species through key planting initiatives, such as the Northern Forest, Trees for Climate and More Hedges.
We have now felled a total of 36 aspen in our woodland, which has given the rest of the trees in our woodland more light and space to grow. Our tree team has underplanted Hazel and Oak to increase longvity.
As we are a sustainable charity, we will be using the felled Aspen for habitat piles and log burning in our glasshouses.
As well as our newly planted Hazel and Oak trees in our woodland, we have also planted a hazel tree next to our largest and most beautiful oak tree on the nursery. In 30 years, that Hazel tree will be nearly as tall as our Oak tree!
We will be dedicating these trees to Queen Elizabeth II for her platinum jubilee, and adding these to her Queen's Canopy map.
We do grow on some species to mature in larger pots sold in retail and currently have pot grown Christmas trees to plant on after the season to contribute to the Queen's Green Canopy. You could join in by registering the Christmas tree you buy from us on the Queen's Green Canopy map!
All projects require fundraising and we are always looking for new sponsors and volunteers to help us realise the future aspirations to maintain the charity and help it to thrive. If you would like to help please contact us.