Tree planters wanted
21 December 2009
The Woodland Trust is calling for as many volunteers as possible to help them plant the country's largest man-made forest in Hertfordshire.
The Heartwood Forest, near St Albans, will eventually cover 344ha (850 acres) of green belt land near St Albans, creating a new woodland about twice the size of London's Regents Park. Its 650,000 trees will be a mixture of native broadleaf varieties include oak, field maple, wild cherry and goat willow.
A series of planting sessions is now under way to get the first 90,000 trees into the ground by next March. The first trees are already in place after a team of scouts, army cadets and other volunteers planted 20,326 saplings in just one hour as part of the recent Tree O'Clock challenge to break the world record for tree-planting.
The Forest is being created from open fields bought by the Woodland Trust in 2008. It will eventually re-connect three pockets of existing ancient bluebell woods in the area and it's hoped will become a hub for recreation such as walking, horse-riding and cycling as well as conservation work.
The next tree-planting sessions are planned for January, February and March 2010. Click here for details of how to get involved