Spotlight on… Trees 2019

by Skibbereen Tidy Towns

National Tree Week 2019 has come and gone but in reality, every week in the season is Tree Week in Skibbereen and in the first of an occasional ‘Spotlight on…’ series of blog posts here are some of the season highlights.

The 9 whitebeam trees planted as part of the North Street car park riverside rejuvenation project last autumn are looking very well this spring and beautifully frame the view of the Ilen river that flows through the town.

The Appletown multi-year project continued with 8 varieties of apple trees with wonderful names such as ‘Allington Pippin’, ‘Greensleeves’ and ‘Peaswood Nonsuch’ planted in both private gardens and suitable public locations around the town. Appletown is the brainchild of Michael Burke, a teacher of horticulture, and the project originated in 2015 with the first planting of trees taking place in Rossa College (now the West Cork Campus of the College of Commerce). The building of the Geodome in the garden of St. Patrick’s BNS presented the opportunity to move the idea to a new level. Having planted 10 apple trees on school grounds, the child-centred nature of these plantings allowed for the distribution of additional trees to schoolchildren to plant in their home settings over the last two years. The total number of apple trees planted to date stands at 750 in Skibbereen town and the local hinterland (250 of these were planted this year). A flexible target number of 2022 trees by the year 2022 is very attainable as more locations are identified.

Tree Mend Us, Skibbereen, is an initiative championed by Des Ronan with a clear mission:

“Trees don’t care on whose land they grow, but they need people to help them sow; if you have land and would like a wood, comment on our (Facebook) page to get some help, you should!”

Skibbereen Rugby Club did exactly that and on a Saturday afternoon in February, 30 people spent a few hours planting 500 young trees at the marsh pitch alongside the Ilen river, including oak, birch, alder, hawthorn and rowan. At Lough Hyne, 20 saplings supplied by the Heritage Unit of Cork County Council were planted by 26 volunteers on Sunday, 7 April as National Tree Week drew to a close.

Elsewhere, the flood relief works have been continuing across the town resulting in a considerable expanse of concrete walls. It is therefore heartening to see 20 birch trees recently planted alongside the Caol stream in the car park to soften the hard landscaping. These are Himalayan birch and will grow to a height of 12 meters and spread of 8 meters with year round white bark. In other locations, over 120 trees have been planted that include lime, alder, birch, flowering cherry, Himalayan white birch and golden beech.

Across the road from the car park on Market Street, the new An Post distribution office is operational and includes some lovely landscaping with 8 trees of the species Mountain Ash. According to the Tree Council of Ireland “the scarlet berries will provide food for thrushes in the winter.” We very much look forward to seeing the trees develop.

Further along on the Baltimore road, Prenco recently planted 3 silver birch and 9 alder trees, principally to add some feature and character to a large open expanse of lawn.
According to John White, General Manager, “the types of tree were selected due to their suitability for poorly draining areas like we have in our lawn.” Nice work folks, in time these trees will become a lovely feature along this stretch of road.

In summary, during the 2018/2019 tree planting season, through all these initiatives, a total of 937 trees (plus a few more) have been planted. Based on this, almost every week in the season was Tree Week! Of course this is only the start, we are all only too aware of the importance of trees to the survival of the planet for future generations.

There is a suitable tree for every location and we urge the people of Skibbereen and its environs to keep an open mind with regards to tree planting in your neighbourhood. If you are a landowner and might be interested in planting suitable trees please get in touch, we’ll be happy to help.

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Featured image courtesy of https://treecouncil.ie