Residents near Mansfield can apply for council-run free tree giveaway for third year

Residents in Clipstone, Rainworth, Blidworth, Edwinstowe, Ollerton, Southwell and elsewhere around the district can can participate in the council-run scheme.

More than 7,000 trees have been distributed since the start of the campaign.

This year, households can apply for up to two Hazel and Crab Apple trees, which are between 30 and 60 centimetres high, by submitting an online application form.

Hazels are medium-sized trees, growing to a height of around 12 metres and can live for several hundred years.

They are a brilliant conservation tree providing catkins from late February, nuts for squirrels and shelter for birds.They also provide early food for bees and supports moths, butterflies, birds and small mammals. Coppiced wood can be used as pea sticks and bean poles by gardeners.

Crab apple trees can grow to a height of around 10m and in spring are covered in scented blossom which is loved by bees and other pollinating insects.

The blossom develops into small hard green fruits from which you can make jelly or leave them for garden birds including blackbirds and thrushes. Mammals, such as mice, voles, foxes and badgers, also eat crab apple fruit.

Councillor Roger Jackson, chairman of the leisure and environment committee at Newark and Sherwood District Council, said: “We are delighted to be running this scheme again. The trees have been carefully selected for their numerous benefits for the environment and local wildlife.”

Trees can be collected from Vicar Water Country Park, in Clipstone, from 10am to 2pm on Friday, November 26, and again from 10am to 12noon on Saturday, November 27. They can also be picked up from from Southwell Market between 10am and 2pm on November 27, or from 10am to 2pm on Saturday, December 4, at Sherwood Heath, Ollerton.

Upon collection, residents will be given an information leaflet on how to plant and look after the tree.

Trees will be available on these dates only, so residents are being encouraged to check that they are available on one of these dates or to find someone to collect on their behalf prior to applying.

Households and communities can apply for a free tree by clicking here

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