Tom talks up the trees
1 September 2010
World Garden owner Tom Hart-Dyke is urging everyone to stake a
claim for some of Kent’s free trees.
Mr Hart Dyke, whose family own the World
Garden at Lullingstone Castle, near Sevenoaks, praised the Kent
free trees scheme for promoting native species.
Tom said:
“The scheme is brilliant. I would thoroughly
recommend it.
“They are native trees and that encourages the
wildlife into your garden.
“It’s really important, especially now we are
so conscious of what we grow in our gardens. Native plants are the
number one priority.
“A couple of years ago we got some small beech
and ash, and they have taken so well – almost 100%. They thrive on
the chalk soil.
“If you are not sure about the quantity or
which is the best type to have, you can always ring up the scheme
for advice.”
With 40,000 trees to give away, there are
plenty left if you want one for the back garden, an allotment or a
community open space.
You can have up to 25 free trees with each
application. They are suitable for private gardens, village greens,
churchyards, schools and community centres.
As well as being attractive, trees are
brilliant for reducing carbon levels. The scheme reckons that up to
seven tonnes of carbon dioxide can be absorbed during the lives of
25 trees.
The Hart-Dyke family originally received trees
from the scheme to replace those lost in the Great Storm of 1987 or
blown down in 1990.
Tom said:
“We have had beech, field maple, oak and ash
and some maple. They have got established in the castle grounds and
they attract so many different varieties of bird sand insects.”
For more details and an application form, go
online to kent free trees in
the wildlife and landscapes section.
The scheme offers 21 species including beech, cherry, field
maple, hawthorn, hazel, holly, mountain ash and wayfaring tree.
Kent Free Trees are available countywide, and in the London
borough of Bexley. It does not apply in Medway.
Orders must be placed by the end of October. Trees will be ready
for collection from the county’s six countryside management
partnerships, from December.
The scheme is supported by Kent County Council, district and
borough councils and Network Rail.