Articles

New “Green Lung” tree trail to open up acres of green space

Date Posted: 3:37 PM on Wed, 30 November 2022

A tree trail at Digby Park, Mapperley, has officially opened as part of Gedling Borough Council’s commitment to protect and create a sustainable environment.

The trail is being opened to coincide with National Tree Week, an annual celebration where the country’s conservation sector, volunteer groups and tree-lovers come together to plant thousands of trees to mark the start of the annual tree planting season.   

More than 500 trees have been planted at the trail at Digby Park so far, including native trees and ornamental trees such as Pride of India, Tibetan Cherry and large Leaf Lime, which can grow up to 100 feet. 

Children from Carlton Digby School will be planting trees and native daffodils at the park as well as planting a tree that they can ‘adopt’.

The trail is lined with saplings of more than 30 different tree species and can be used by pedestrians and cyclists. When fully grown many of the trees will reach heights between 60 and 100 foot and become part of an area called the “Green Lung”. The park will also be receiving new benches, bins and improved drainage to make it easier to access.

Each tree along the trail is marked with a plaque featuring a QR code, which when scanned, takes the user to a webpage with detailed information about that species of tree.

The trail leads from the entrance at Digby Avenue, Mapperley all the way to Arnold Lane and back. Plans are also being made for access improvements from Digby Park to Gedling Country Park once nearby housing development is finished.

Janet Spratt-Burch, Head Teacher at Carlton Digby School said;

“The pupils at Carlton Digby School are pleased to be part of this environmental area improvement. Our pupils use the park on a regular basis as part of their learning, and it will be positive for them to see the growth of 'our tree' and notice the seasonal changes, as the daffodils come through in the spring.”

Leader of Gedling Borough Council, Councillor John Clarke MBE said;

“We’re really pleased to be opening this new trail at Digby Park as part of National Tree Week, and it’s great to be joined by local school children. Seeing these young children here with us who are so passionate about their environment is truly inspirational.

We made a commitment to plant 500 trees each year and this year alone we’ve planted more than 2,000.

Thanks to this new trail, more residents will be able to enjoy the environmental and health and wellbeing benefits that areas like this bring.”