Petersfield Climate Action Network are delighted to report that all the fruit trees and hedging plants supplied for this winter's A Fruit Tree in Every Garden project have been allocated. This means more than 1000 subsidised fruit trees (funded by East Hants District Council) have been sold and nearly 3km of free hedging plants (13,650 whips, funded by The Tree Council) distributed across East Hampshire this season!
Over the four years this PeCAN project has been running - and growing – we have provided nearly 2000 fruit trees for local gardens and allotments.
The benefits offered by planting a fruit tree include habitat for wildlife, water retention, shading, blossom, fruit and carbon absorption – but hedgerows could be fellow gentle champions of nature recovery. Replacing fences with hedges and replanting gaps will help us meet our national, and international target of 30% of land restored for nature by 2030. Native hedging offers a diverse habitat, supporting a range of wildlife as a natural foraging corridor and source of shelter, and capturing and storing large amounts of carbon.
At both collection events – the Tree Festival in November and Hedge Fest in February – PeCAN, The Tree Council and Petersfield Community Garden collaborated to offer free planting and pruning demonstrations, expert information, and brilliant activities for children. Further collaborations, with Alton Climate Action Network, Liphook Climate Action Network and Rowlands Castle Gardening Club, allowed for additional collection points in those locations. Approximately 70 volunteers helped to deliver the project, with volunteers from National Rail helping out on a team building day, and more than 600 people attended across the two events.
One customer commented "The 80m of mixed native hedgerow we collected at Hedge Fest will be planted on our wildflower meadow, primarily for wildlife and to boost biodiversity, and will be laid using traditional Hampshire methods. We can’t wait to see the difference it makes to our little pocket of Hampshire chalk!"
A Fruit Tree in Every Garden will return once again next autumn. You can register your interest in purchasing a subsidised fruit tree here, or sign up for monthly updates via our newsletter. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Instagram accounts for news, too.
This project is part of EHDC's Grow Up Community Farm project and has received funding from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
