Landowners and farmers in Leicestershire are being reminded to sign up before the 31 October deadline to a scheme which supplies them with free trees to plant on their land.

Leicestershire County Council is working in partnership with the Woodland Trust to offer the free tree and hedgerow packs, which are designed to help renew and restore existing woodland and vegetation, as well as replacing trees which have been affected by diseases such as ash dieback and encouraging more tree planting across the county.

Councillor Blake Pain, cabinet member for the environment and the green agenda, said:

"This is a great scheme which helps towards our ambition to plant 700,000 new trees across Leicestershire – one for each resident. The free trees scheme is always hugely popular with groups, schools and other landowners, which shows that the people of Leicestershire share our commitment to making the county a greener place to live and work. I would encourage anyone with a suitable area of land to apply before the deadline to make sure they don’t miss out.”

Each free tree pack includes 50 native trees – a mix of oak, wild cherry, crab apple, field maple and hazel, as well as tree guards and stakes. The hedgerow packs are made up of 250 native trees and shrubs, including a mix of hawthorn, hazel, field maple and oaks to plant at regular intervals along the hedgerow. Each hedgerow pack is enough to create a 50m-long hedge at five plants per metre.

For larger areas of land, the scheme will also help advise and support the creation of new areas of woodland planting over half a hectare through the MOREwoods scheme.

The tree packs are being made available to anyone who lives in Leicestershire with suitable areas of land to plant – including community groups, parish councils and schools, as well as landowners and farmers. Eligible applicants are now being encouraged to register for their free tree and hedgerow packs before the 31 October deadline.

Last year, the county council gave away around 50,000 trees from this and other similar schemes – and is hoping this year’s scheme will prove even more successful.

Anyone who would like to apply for a free tree or hedgerow pack is asked to register by emailing here, name, email address, phone number and planting location (postcode or grid reference).