HOW TO PLANT TREES

▶ The king and queen of British native trees are the oak (pictured above) and beech tree. A golden rule is never to plant them together, because they prefer different soils: oak likes clay and beech prefers lime-based, lighter soil.

▶ Create a ‘bucket-shaped square hole’ for trees. Roots don’t like hitting corners and when they get to them will spread out rather than going round and round and suffocating.

▶ Think about how far the roots of the tree will spread – they will follow the pattern and shape of the height of the tree so give them space and make sure they are planted with enough room.

▶ Jays (above) and squirrels are nature’s ultimate propagators of trees. Follow their rules and allow nature to take over.

▶ The tree-planting season is predominantly between November and March, though with climate change timings can be stretched. However, don’t plant oaks before December.

▶ Go to the Woodland Trust (woodlandtrust.org.uk) for good treeplanting advice or to Kneppflix to follow nature’s own pattern (look for ‘Knepp Natural Regeneration Cartoon’ on Youtube). Ashridge Trees also has a good section on tree-planting skills (ashridgetrees.co.uk).

▶ Spread trees at least two metres apart and don’t forget hedgerows create wonderful avenues for flora and fauna. If you don’t want to plant a tree, plant a hedge. They are nature’s motorways and just as valuable as trees.

▶ Plaques to commemorate your tree planting initiative are available from QGC (queensgreencanopy.org). QGC is inviting everyone to upload their Jubilee initiative on to its treeplanting map.