On Sunday, 17th November around 50 Wilmslow residents of all ages came together to plant a new forest in Wilmslow. The event was arranged by the Tree Group of local charity, Transition Wilmslow.

We had the idea following on from the planting of the ‘Tiny Forest’ at Wilmslow High School which we did last February – that was 600 trees planted very close together, a Japanese idea that creates a very fast growing forest, which absorbs a lot of carbon.

Paddy Johnson of the tree group said, “We decided it would be an incredible project to plant more trees, but spaced apart more regularly, so we could compare the growth of the two forests over the coming years, and see which one does better.”

So that’s exactly what we did – The Woodland Trust provided the group with 400 trees and Wilmslow High School agreed that they could use the land behind the existing Tiny Forest.

Lisa Johnson, who helps to arrange events for Transition Wilmslow, said, “It was really important to us to involve lots of people from the community, so we arranged a family tree planting event. We were absolutely delighted that around 50 people came along to join us on the day, despite the weather being pretty wet.”

“It was incredible to see so many children coming along to get involved – how amazing for them to plant these tiny trees and see their progress over the years, growing with them.”

So, 400 more trees were planted, and now we can all watch the progress of the 1,000 strong two forests over the coming years.

Andrew Backhouse, the Chair of the Charity said, “as the climate is changing, so must we – planting trees to offset carbon emissions and to absorb increased rainfall just makes sense right now.”

Get involved by signing up for the monthly email newsletter. More tree planting projects are happening soon, and everyone in Wilmslow and the surrounding areas are very welcome to get involved. We will be planting around 200 more trees at Rugby Club in early December. Please keep an eye on our website and Facebook page, and do get involved. We are in this together.