Thousands of new trees for Edinburgh

As the planting season draws to a close, Parks Leader and Vice Convener of Transport and Environment Councillor Karen Doran has paid a visit to the Council’s Inch Nursery to see how trees are nurtured before being planted in Edinburgh’s streets and parks.

During her visit Cllr Doran welcomed the arrival of 2,000 new saplings of various species (including rowan, sweet chestnut, whitebeam, walnut, lime, holm oak and sycamore, to name just a few) to the Nursery. These young specimens will be grown on and cared for over the next few years to allow them to reach sufficient maturity for planting across the city.

She also inspected a collection of trees being prepared for planting over the coming weeks in various locations, including the Meadows and the Cammo Estate.

Cllr Doran said: “We know people in Edinburgh care deeply about trees – and we do, too. Since the start of this Administration in May 2017 more than 12,000 trees have been planted across the city and these new saplings I’ve seen today at Inch Nursery will be joining them in a few years’ time once they’ve been carefully nurtured by our fantastic forestry team. 

“Trees add so much to our quality of life. They help keep the air clean, they provide homes to a huge range of wildlife and they even reduce the risk of flooding.

“I want to pay tribute to the hard work and dedication of all our Parks, Greenspace and Cemeteries staff. They do an excellent job and are helping to keep Edinburgh a greener, healthier and altogether more pleasant place for everyone.”

FAST FACTS

• Edinburgh has more trees than residents (650,000+ trees compared to 513,000 people) – and more trees per head of population than any other UK city
• Edinburgh is one of only two places in the UK (the other being Brighton) which still has elm trees thanks to the Council’s ongoing Dutch Elm Disease Control Programme. This programme, which has been going since at least the early 1980s if not earlier, has ensured that the Capital still has thousands of elm trees
• New street trees typically replace ones that have had to be removed for a variety of reasons, including disease, storm damage, vandalism or vehicle damage, as well as trees that have died naturally.

NOT SO TREE-MENDOUS: Let’s not talk about fifty plus healthy trees removed from Princes Street Gardens late last year or these poor trees under a death sentence at Meadowbank Stadium.