Community case study:
Tree Musketeers
With a moto of “All for trees and trees for all!’, you can understand the mission of this community tree nursery – a group of volunteers that have been growing trees for well over 20 years. Established in 2000, this Hackney-based group has a one-hectare site for its use.
The once-unused putting green owned by Hackney Council has been transformed into a haven. Concerned that too much urban tree planting ultimately fails due to lack of sufficient aftercare, Tree Musketeers’ aim for the site was always to plant, care for and protect trees in the local area.
With this focus in mind, the Tree Musketeers grow much larger trees than most community tree nurseries. Most of their trees are semi-standard size (between 1–2.5m and between four–10 years old) when they leave the nursery. Less stock is grown as larger trees take up more space than smaller whips. About 200 new trees are grown each year with approximately 1,000 in the nursery at any time. Most of the trees (about 100 a year) are planted in parks or other green spaces around Hackney.
Working closely with the borough council and neighbouring councils, the Tree Musketeers concentrate on species that can cope better with climate change and the urban heat island effect (when cities experience warmer temperatures due to replacing natural land cover with surfaces that absorb and retain heat). A tree nursery volunteer explained, “We also grow rare or unusual, often non-native species to increase diversity, such as elms, black poplar, grafted fruit trees, black walnut, cockspur thorns, Mediterranean oaks and other exotic ornamental trees.”
Volunteers gather seeds from around Hackney and from parks and gardens further afield. The Tree Musketeers have learned how best to germinate different species through experimenting with varying approaches. Their set-up includes a polytunnel for propagation, cages to protect newly planted seeds, planting to ensure well-developed root systems and the use of air pots.
The group say they are, “more a way of being than an organisation.” They rely on volunteers and have never had any staff. Numbers of volunteers fluctuate – on planting days, they might have up to 20 people come along – but there are currently about 30 regulars supervised by six volunteer co-ordinators. Open volunteering sessions are run every Wednesday and Friday.
