MAYOR of Worcester Coun Adrian Gregson has launched the city’s latest tree-planting programme by helping to create an arboreal tribute to the reign of Queen Elizabeth II.
Worcester is set to get greener over the winter months, with more than 800 saplings being planted at locations across the city.
As a Champion City in the Queen’s Green Canopy scheme, it is appropriate Worcester has begun its latest programme with the creation of a circle of seven trees – one for each decade of the late monarch’s reign – at the KGV Community Hub off Brickfields Road.
Pupils from Tudor Grange Academy, working with Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, have designed the planting beds and joined the Mayor to help get the saplings into the ground. Also helping with the planting were the Worcester Afro-Caribbean Association, Worcestershire Polish Association, Platform Housing, and Worcester Community Trust.
Coun Gregson, said: “Trees bring so many benefits to all – they give shelter and habitats for wildlife, provide clean air, offer protection from flooding and store carbon. And there is much evidence to show that they are vital for our own wellbeing.
“It was a privilege to launch the city’s latest tree-planting programme in my own ward of Rainbow Hill, and to work with so many people from our city’s many communities to create a lasting memorial to the late Queen Elizabeth II.”
Tudor Grange pupils helped the Mayor to plant a tulip tree – said to be The Queen’s favourite – and other trees in the new memorial circle include an apple, crab apple, flowering cherry, mulberry, whitebeam, and a silver birch.
This first phase of planting coincides with the national National Tree-Planting Week. Worcester City Council’s programme will continue through the winter planting season, with a mixture of fruit trees and native woodland species going into the ground across the city.
Worcester is a Champion City in the national Queen’s Green Canopy scheme, for having trees and woodlands as a central part of plans for its green spaces.
Many of the trees will be planted in the city’s eight Queen Elizabeth II fields, which were given protected status by the Fields In Trust organisation to mark The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee.
These eight areas include Offerton Lane Local Nature Reserve, Weyburn Close, Diglis Fields, St Peter’s Power Park, Northwick Lido, Oldbury Road Playing Fields, Warndon Park and Cromwell Crescent Park.
A Christmas tree is to be planted in Cripplegate Park, while more than 500 tree whips funded by the charity Trees for Cities will create new woodland areas at Perdiswell and Cherry Orchard.
