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Fran and Rupert's Tree Planting Efforts at the Lake

Many of our owner community are doing their bit to help the planet. Some of you have been doing incredible things, like Rupert and Fran at The Lake in Cornwall, who’ve been carefully managing their land for 15 years. On a recent visit, we spoke to them about their latest efforts – planting six acres with trees chosen and sited to encourage biodiversity.

When did you decide to start tree planting? 

We have been planting different areas over the past 15 years with native broadleaf trees as an environmental move. Originally we had a grant for planting, but are now working on six acres which we didn’t get a grant for. It just seemed the right thing to be doing. While this planting was done on our farm, we also manage the large area of moorland around The Lake under the Environmental Stewardship scheme to improve biodiversity. After 15 years the land is in a vastly improved condition.

 What did you decide to plant and why?

The trees that we have just planted are, again, native broadleaf trees that are found in the countryside. We chose species for this area to improve biodiversity. A couple of years ago, the field we’ve planted was left wild for a year and the enormous amount of insects, butterflies, small mammals and birds that moved in very quickly was staggering. So we decided to plant the field quite thinly in order to have woody, scrubby areas combined with open grassland. We planted Oak, Beech, Hawthorn, Silver Birch, Wild Cherry, Bird Cherry, Spindle, Field Maple and Gelder Rose. These trees, planted with large open areas, will provide mixed habitat for a vast range of species. We decided to plant as part of a decision to use our land to do our bit to help mitigate climate change.

What would you recommend if anyone is considering tree planting?

There is considerable advice available for tree planting from the Forestry Commission. We’d definitely suggest starting by getting in touch with them.

We’d love to hear more of your stories and any activity towards conservation, tree planting and protecting the environment. Do get in touch with your account manager if you are doing anything, we’d love to share with our community.