Tree and hedge planting
Having been successful in our bid for Hedgerow Heroes funding from the national CPRE charity, we planted more than 2.6km of new hedgerow around Staffordshire over the winter of 2023-2024.
Now in its third year, ‘Hedgerow Heroes’ is an ambitious project that aims to plant, restore and regenerate hedgerows across a range of landscapes, whilst encouraging local communities to reconnect with nature and participate in activities that improve local biodiversity.
In March 2022, we helped local farmer Graham Ashford and pupils from All Saints CE Primary School to plant 60 native saplings in a wild corner of Graham’s 13-acre farm in the village of Ranton.
We have also helped Staffordshire University make their campus more hedgehog-friendly by extending a long section of native hedging alongside their River Trent walk. The new hedging will provide a barrier between the sports fields and the nature reserve. Trees including hazel, blackthorn, hawthorn, crab apple, oak and goat willow will provide food, cover and shelter for hedgehogs, a variety of bird species and other wildlife.
In 2023, we joined forces with the Prince’s Trust to plant trees and strip turf to create an orchard and wildlife garden on the Leek Road campus, and in March we helped farmers and landowners near Cannock Chase plant trees and hedges on their land as part of the Farming in Protected Landscapes programme.