We’ve planted 19,919 trees and tree whips across Brighton & Hove in the past year.
A total of 19,500 tree whips were planted across woodlands and a further 419 trees were planted in parks, around housing and on highways.
Tree whips are unbranched young trees which are planted with 1m to 2.5m spacing with tubex tree protection and a wooden stake to support.
Enhancing our green spaces
We chose a diverse range of species to enhance the city’s woodlands, parks and streets with species such as oak, hazel, wild cherry and black walnut.
The trees chosen will improve habitat diversity, provide seasonal interest and offer greater resilience and support for the city’s tree collection.
Urban Tree Challenge Fund
We have planted 196 trees in parks across the city with ‘friends of’ groups and other stakeholders with funding from the Urban Tree Challenge Fund.
The Urban Tree Challenge Fund is a government scheme that aims to boost nature, health and wellbeing by providing funds for tree planting projects.
This is our third year working with the programme which has already seen over 400 new trees planted in our open spaces.
Our Cityparks team have planted trees in parks across the city including Preston Park, Knoll Park, Mackie Park, Queens Park, The Level, Saltdean Oval, Stoneham Park and Wish Park.
Trees have also been planted in the grounds of Balfour Primary School and Dorothy Stringer School.
Regenerating our woodlands
17,000 of 19,500 tree whips planted across our city are part of our work to regenerate woodlands that have been devastated by ash dieback.
Our Ash Dieback Regeneration Plan aims to restore key woodland areas and enhance the city’s woodlands for the future.
The largest replant was at ‘Three Cornered Copse’ in Hove where 6,000 tree whips were planted.
We’re planning to plant a further 70,000 tree whips in 2024 to continue our important regeneration work.
Ash dieback
Ash dieback is an incredibly disruptive tree fungal infection which is significantly affecting ash tree populations across the UK.
As part of our Ash Dieback Regeneration Plan, felling licenses were granted from the government’s Forestry Commission last year to remove infected trees to minimise the impact and reduce the risk to both the public and property.
We’ve had to remove around 10,000 infected ash trees from woodlands across the city so far and anticipate many more ash trees will need to be felled over the next few years.
A 10-year maintenance programme has been put in place to survey and monitor the young trees following replanting.
Eight for Earth Day
Our tree planting work is one of the 8 stories we’re highlighting following on from Earth Day in April. Eight for Earth Day recognises the positive actions of people making a difference to reducing the effects of climate change and restoring nature.
