Please note - the deadline for applying for trees has now passed. We will be sending out collection letters very soon to everyone who applied for trees; this will detail when and where to come to collect your free trees. The trees will be provided as whips, so please don‘t arrange to bring a trailer as there‘s no need - they‘ll fit in a bag!
For anyone who has missed out on this year‘s scheme, here is a short summary of what was on offer.
North West Leicestershire District Council has teamed up with the National Forest Company to provide an opportunity for you to plant trees in your garden. The offer is available to each household within North West Leicestershire. If you live within South Derbyshire or East Staffordshire you can also apply by contacting your local council directly.
There are four trees to choose from: Alder Buckthorn, Bird Cherry, Common Spindle and Hazel (maximum of two items per household).
If we all planted only one tree this year, just imagine the benefits to your neighbourhood – a profusion of beautiful spring flowers, fabulous autumn colour and beautiful bark and berries/nuts.
All the trees are two years old and approximately 60-90cms (2 to 3 feet) high. They will be supplied together with a guidance sheet on how to plant and to look after them.
What’s on offer?
Alder Buckthorn
Alder Buckthorn (Frangula alnus) is a deciduous shrub, growing to 3–6 m, occasionally to 7 m tall. The flowers are small, 3–5 mm diameter, star-shaped with five greenish-white acute triangular petals, hermaphroditic, and insect pollinated, flowering in May to June in clusters of two to ten in the leaf axils. The fruit is a small black berry 6–10 mm diameter, ripening from green through red in late summer to dark purple or black in early autumn, containing two or three pale brown 5 mm seeds.
Bird Cherry
Bird Cherry (Prunus padus) is a species of cherry, native to northern Europe and northern Asia. It is the type species of the subgenus Padus with flowers in racemes, which are hermaphroditic and pollinated by bees and flies; it is a deciduous small tree or large shrub 8–16 m tall. The English name refers to the berries, which are astringent and bitter-sweet, seldom used in Western Europe (but commonly eaten in Russia and elsewhere), readily eaten by birds, which do not taste astringency as unpleasant.
Common Spindle
Common Spindle (Euonymus europaeus) grows to 3 to 6 m tall, with a stem up to 20 cm diameter. In autumn the leaves often show a beautiful bright red colour. The flowers are produced in late spring and are insect-pollinated; they are small, yellowish green and grow in cymes of 3-8 together. The fruit ripens in autumn, and is red to purple or pink in colour and approximately 1 to 1.5 cm wide. When ripe, the four lobes split open to reveal the orange seeds. The fruit is poisonous, containing amongst other substances, the alkaloids theobromine and caffeine, as well as an extremely bitter terpene.
Hazel
Hazel (Corylus avellana) - A small, fast growing, native, deciduous tree, that will grow to around 6 metres. It has edible nuts in autumn and bright yellow lambs tail catkins in February which provide essential early pollen for bees. A useful hedge plant itself, a hazel tree can also be coppiced to produce straight stakes for hedge laying, runner bean poles etc, while its twiggy branches make the best pea sticks around.
