New trees have been plated along the grass verges at the top end of Appleford Drive in Abingdon.  Each tree is tied and protected with a wire cage.

This planting was done by Oxfordshire County Council as part of a wider tree-planting programme, which aims to increase the number of trees to help both with climate change and make streets more pleasant.

The council’s Tree Policy aims to get ‘the right tree in the right place’. Grass verges have limited space, possible underground services, parked cars, pedestrian use, and there is a need to keep sightlines. Young trees can also suffer deliberate or accidental damage in their early years.

Some of the newly planted trees are labelled. One that is already familiar locally is sweet gum (Liquidambar styraciflua), well known in Abingdon town centre for its autumn colour. Other labelled species include field maple (Acer campestre), plum-leaf hawthorn (Crataegus × persimilis ‘Splendens’), tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera), silver lime (Tilia tomentosa ‘Brabant’), and Italian alder (Alnus cordata).

Appleford Drive has some much larger trees which could have been there before the housing.