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Planting trees better than Christmas shopping

WE have found the perfect antidote to Christmas shopping: a weekend of tree planting in glorious countryside.

Volunteers from Living Woods are heading back up to the moorland edge above Gilsland – on the border between Cumbria and Northumberland – next weekend, and we’re looking for people to join us.

It’s the last planting session before Christmas for Living Woods, which creates and manages community tree planting events across the north. Our volunteers were at Gilsland a week ago when we planted species including aspen, alder, birch, hawthorn and willow. It’s part of a habitat improvement scheme, to plant up the gulley sides. And for the first time we were using sheep wool mulch mats to suppress weeds.

Planting at Gilsland

At the end of each day the volunteers were greeted with hot drinks, cake and a fire-pit when they got back. The scheme is funded by Great Northumberland Forest, and this one is carried out on behalf of the Natural World Fund.

Director Mark Shipperlee said: “We find that volunteers are really glad to get away from all the Christmas hustle and bustle. It’s a really peaceful and very useful way to spend some time in the open. Last time we even had ravens flying above us calling as we planted trees.”

Living Woods is a commmunity interest company, with headquarters at Hexham, dedicated to the creation and sustainable management of woodland by supporting and empowering local people to create and care for woodlands in and around their communities.

Anyone interested in coming along next weekend, on Saturday Dec 14 and/or Sunday Dec 15 is asked to book (free) via the following links:

Link for Saturday booking:https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-tree-planting-weekend-saturday-tickets-1107482994449?

Link for Sunday booking: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/community-tree-planting-weekend-sunday-tickets-1107492743609?af

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