Trees under threat from road scheme

Alan Titchmarsh champions RHS from the ultimate ‘garden grab’

More than 500 trees at RHS garden Wisley could be cut down as part of a major road-widening initiative. Proposals to widen the A3 at the M25 junction could see a sizeable slice of the garden disappear, and removal of historic trees, including giant redwood, and five trees considered threatened or endangered.

TV gardener and RHS ambassador Alan Titchmarsh is urging ‘the UK’s 27 million army of gardeners to stand together and protect Wisley from the ultimate garden grab’. “We must protect our gardens,” he said.

From the two options Highways England is considering, the RHS wants the agency to choose the east, rather than the west side of the A3. The eastern route threatens removal of a tract of rare, ancient woodland.

“The proposed expansion of the A3 is stuck between a rock and a hard place, with both suggestions likely to have a huge environmental impact,” said Austin Brady, conservation director of charity Woodland Trust, which has lobbied government about the threat.

A decision is due imminently, with final plans expected at the end of the year.

Road widening would require the removal of hundreds of trees and shrubs, including a row of redwoods (below and right) Alan stands next to a threatened redwood