Shrewsbury nursery has home for unwanted trees

Gardeners with unwanted trees growing on their plots are being invited to ‘recycle’ them by donating them to a Shrewsbury tree nursery.

Shropshire Council, working in partnership with Shrewsbury Town Council, is asking for unwanted seedlings  that would otherwise be destroyed to be donated to Shrewsbury’s Weeping Cross nursery, where they will be repurposed and planted in appropriate sites around the county.

The donated trees will be tagged and then monitored for pests and diseases by nursery staff, and logged to a database, to enable people to discover where their donated trees have been planted in the county.

Orphan trees. Photo credit; Shrewsbury Town Council.

The project, which runs for three years, is aimed at developing innovative and sustainable ways to increase tree cover to address both the climate and ecological emergencies.

Ian Nellins, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for climate change, environment and transport, said:-

“This is a simple scheme that allows people to remove the self-setters and repurpose them, instead of destroying them because they can’t be accommodated where they are.

“This has the benefit of increasing the county’s tree stock, improving our biosecurity, as well as reducing the carbon impact twofold, firstly by reducing road miles and secondly by planting and maintaining the trees.

“Shropshire Council is committed to planting 345,000 trees by 2050, though we are hoping to bring the target forward; and projects such as this offer us the chance to achieve greater success.”

Mike Pugh, Shrewsbury Town Council’s contracts and arb manager, added:

“Local tree groups are welcome to plant new trees and help maintain the tree stock at our nursery, although we would ask that people get in touch to make an appointment to visit us.

“The town council also has the capacity to help local tree planting groups, as they now have the infrastructure funds to assist with supplying pots, compost, stakes and canes.”

To contact Shrewsbury Town Council: enquiries@shrewsburytowncouncil.gov.uk

Anyone planting a tree this year, and until the end of the planting season in March 2023, is encouraged to register its location as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy project, designed to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s Platinum Jubilee.