Guerilla tree planting in Brighton

Early spring and we go to check on the trees we planted the previous autumn. They haven't sprouted new leaves yet so you can hardly see them in this photo. Note the blue plastic litter in the background. This is the back wall of an industrial unit, a bit of 'waste' ground nobody bothers with.

Now that Spring is here the undergrowth will grow fast. The trees are a bit short as yet and may be swamped by the other plants so we use the plastic to mulch the base of the young trees. There are plenty of holes in the plastic for water to get through.

The trees in these photos were planted the year before. They are oaks, rescued from some zealous conservationists, and kept in a back garden (heeled in to the soil lightly, to ensure the roots do not dry out) while we found somewhere they would not offend anybody.

For a year or two we will need to look after these trees, but after that we can leave the undergrowth to grow back, which will protect them from human incursion too, as it gets denser. Hopefully they will thrive here, and contribute to the forest that will replace our dreary grey city--the sooner the better!

Some results of previous plantings are in another page.