From tree-lined streets to greener parks and schools, Ealing Council has reached a huge milestone – 50,000 trees planted since 2022.
Teams from across the council, community and charity volunteers, and local partners have been planting trees across the borough. Not only do they look beautiful and create new homes for wildlife, but they also help clean the air, soak up floods and provide shade from increasingly hot summers.
This week council leader Peter Mason and Councillor Paul Driscoll, the council’s cabinet member for climate action, celebrated reaching the council’s target of planting 50,000 new trees by adding another one. The London Plane tree has taken root in Mattock Lane, Ealing. It replaces an older one which had to be removed because it had started to rot and was potentially unsafe.
Councillor Mason said: “Planting 50,000 trees is a major step forward in how we respond to the climate emergency. As we see hotter summers and heavier rainfall, trees are one of the simplest, most effective ways to make our neighbourhoods more resilient — cooling streets and parks, helping reduce surface water flooding, and improving air quality for everyone. This milestone shows what we can achieve when the council, residents, volunteers and partners work together to protect our environment and invest in a healthier future.”
Where have the trees been planted?
Around 30,000 trees have been planted in the borough’s parks and open spaces including Pear Tree Park, in Perivale, where community groups and volunteers worked with the council and Letting Grow, a community interest organisation, to plant 5,000 sapling trees to rewild a former golf course on the site.
And children as young as 4-years-old have helped to plant ‘tiny forests’ at 13 schools around the borough. The independent research organisation, Earthwatch, helped pupils at St Gregory’s School in Ealing plant 600 trees to create a tiny forest to help stop its playing field from becoming waterlogged.
Other schools that have planted ‘tiny forests’ include:
- Hambrough, Three Bridges and Wolf Fields Primary Schools in Southall
- Our Lady of the Visitation Catholic Primary School in Greenford
- St Mark’s Primary School in Hanwell
- Gifford Primary in Northolt
- West Acton Primary School
Also, there are now fruit trees in all 7 of the borough’s towns that are creating community orchards.
Almost 8,000 trees have been planted on streets too – helping to reduce pollution from traffic and soaking up rainwater to prevent flooding. As part of Lammas Park’s sustainable urban drainage scheme to reduce the risk of flooding, 900 trees have also been planted there.
Sponsor a tree
Did you know that residents can sponsor a new tree to be planted in their street?
Since 2022, 210 new urban trees have been sponsored by residents through the national charity initiative, Trees for Streets. The project has brought together residents, local businesses and the council, to make our streets greener, healthier and happier places to live.
Residents and local businesses have used the interactive map on the Trees for Streets website to pick locations where they’d like to see a new street tree planted. Many residents have asked to fill gaps outside their houses or elsewhere on their streets; some opt to sponsor a tree in their favourite park.
Once the request is received, the council surveys the site to make sure it is suitable. If all is ok, the sponsor’s donation is accepted and in winter a new tree is planted.
Become a watering champion
Could you help a young street tree to thrive by promising to water it once a week during the summer? You can choose a tree near you to water on Trees for Streets’ online map. A tree would only need about 2 watering cans worth of water from May to September. The council’s trees team also water young street trees.
Councillor Driscoll said: “Every tree makes a difference, so I would like to thank everyone who has helped make a difference to build a cleaner and healthier borough by planting 50,000 trees, those who have sponsored a tree or who volunteer to water a tree in their neighbourhood. A special thanks to children who will see their tree-planting efforts in their school or local park grow as they do.”
Information
Visit the Trees for Streets website for more information about sponsoring a tree in your street, becoming a watering champion or planting a celebration tree.
Go to the council’s website to find out about volunteering in a park or open space.
