Grant of £4,290 awarded in 2023
Led by an environmental sub-group of the Parish Council, the Garsington Gets Greener project aims to create, enhance or restore areas of natural woodland within the village, improve biodiversity and create nature corridors for wildlife.
A grant of £4,290 from TOE’s Local Environment Fund, awarded in July 2023, is paying for over 1,000 trees and hedge plants plus water butts, the associated stakes and guards to ensure the new planting establishes well. All the labour is being provided by volunteers from the village and the work is being phased over two planting seasons.
Now half way through the delivery phase, this project is proving to be very popular. Last winter a group of 10-15 volunteers from Garsington’s Green Gym did all the preparation for and planting of the hedging. So far, about 15 people have agreed to be Tree Adopters, helping to plant new trees and then taking on responsibility for their maintenance, including watering, monitoring for disease/damage etc. The grant holder believes this large number of enthusiastic volunteers has worked well saying “It is often the case in village activities that it is the same old people doing the work. Not the case here, I guess because the project is popular and the exposure at the Village Fete and regular updates on the village Facebook page, Garsington Greatness.” She added, “We feel the Adopt-a-Tree scheme has been excellent and may well help other tree-planting projects.”
