Leicestershire landowners and farmers urged to sign up for free tree giveaway

Free trees are up for grabs for landowners and farmers in Leicestershire until October 31.

Leicestershire County Council is working in partnership with the Woodland Trust to offer the free tree and hedgerow packs, designed to renew and restore existing woodland and vegetation, as well as replacing trees which have been affected by diseases such as ash dieback.

The tree packs are available to anyone who lives in Leicestershire with suitable areas of land to plant – including community groups, parish councils and schools, as well as landowners and farmers. Eligible applicants are encouraged to register for the packs before the deadline.

Each tree pack includes 50 native trees – a mix of oak, wild cherry, crab apple, field maple and hazel, as well as tree guards and stakes. The hedgerow packs are made up of 250 native trees and shrubs, including a mix of hawthorn, hazel, field maple and oaks to plant at regular intervals along the hedgerow. Each hedgerow pack is enough to create a 50m-long hedge at five plants per metre.

Councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for the environment, said: "This is a great scheme which helps towards our ambition to plant 700,000 new trees across Leicestershire – one for each resident.

“The free trees scheme is always hugely popular with groups, schools and other landowners, which shows that the people of Leicestershire share our commitment to making the county a greener place to live and work. I would encourage anyone with a suitable area of land to apply before the deadline to make sure they don’t miss out.”

Last year, the county council gave away around 50,000 trees from this and other similar schemes – and is hoping this year’s scheme will prove even more successful.

Those interested can register for a pack by emailing [email protected] with their name, email address, phone number and planting location – either a postcode or grid reference.

The closing date for applications is Tuesday October 31. Successful applicants can collect their trees from Beaumanor Hall in Woodhouse on Monday December 4 or Wednesday February 21.