A new wood for Hull: Wilberforce Wood

An oak sapling just planted

Today it was Tree O'clock, an attempt to beat the world record of most trees planted in one hour. We took a few oaks with us, some saplings we had grown from acorns we collected in Sherwood Forest three years ago, and some others we collected in a garden centre as part of the scheme. The day was promising, sunny sky, no wind and relatively mild. We chose to join forces with The Woodland Trust to help create a new forest in Hull, Wilberforce Wood. A few years ago the site was agricultural land with strongly boggy tendencies, according to the satellite photos by Google Earth, as it is right on the floodplain of the river Hull, in North Carr. We planted mostly Alder, a native species well suited to wet areas and that grows quickly. In all we managed to plant 1600 saplings in one hour, together with around 20 other volunteers. Many holes - filled with water to the rim - had been dug in advance so it wasn't back-breaking work, just very muddy. Many wolf spiders were active, Meadow Pipits and Goldfinches chirped and there were even some flowering buttercups to enliven the day.

A view of the site

Creeping Buttercup, Ranunculus repens

How to get there

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