Schools, charities, village organisations and community groups in the Burnham-On-Sea area have been invited to apply for free young trees from a Somerset garden centre.
Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre is offering between 50 and 100 saplings to local good causes as part an annual giveaway.
Andrew Pitman, Plant Manager at the independent garden centre in Monkton Heathfield near Bridgwater, told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “This year we’ve got 2,013 small sapling trees to give to any worthy causes that would like them for projects they are running in 2013.”
“The deadline for the giveaway is 5pm on Friday, March 1st. We do have a limited number of saplings and are allocating them on a first come, first served basis so we urge people to submit their requests as soon as possible.”
“We’ve operated similar schemes for the past five years and they’ve been incredibly successful, so we’re inviting anyone who feels that their school, charity or group is deserving of the saplings to get in touch.”
Among the groups receiving trees last year was Highbridge’s Churchfield School, as pictured here.
The garden centre will be giving away groups of between 50 and 100 small saplings, known as whips. The trees are indigenous British varieties.
Andrew added: “As the saplings are fairly small they are ideal for areas and projects where they can be planted together in groups of around 50 or 100. They would be perfect for hedging or creating small woodland areas.”
Worthy causes that apply for the trees must write in to Andrew at the garden centre giving details of their project and why they think they deserve to receive a group of saplings. Requests should be posted to: Andrew Pitman, Plant Manager, Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre, Monkton Heathfield, TA2 8QN.
Pictured: Maggie Bennett, Teaching Assistant at Churchfield Primary School in Highbridge, and pupils from its gardening club receiving their saplings from Sue Bown, Seasonal Plant Specialist at Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre in 2012
