Eight special trees have been planted in parks throughout the district to help celebrate Her Majesty The Queen’s 70th year on the throne.
Two Blue Cedar trees, aka ‘Cedrus Atlantica Glauca’, have been planted in each main town – Hitchin, Letchworth, Baldock and Royston – and will grow over time to around 30m (100 ft). This superb evergreen conifer is a standout specimen tree – one which is planted singularly as a focus of attention.
Trees are being planted across the UK as part of the Queen’s Green Canopy, a unique tree planting initiative to help mark the first British monarch to celebrate a Platinum Jubilee. The Queen’s official anniversary was on 6 February, but celebrations are taking place throughout the year, including a four-day UK bank holiday weekend from Thursday 2 to Sunday 5 June.
The council joins schools, community groups and individual members of the pubic in ‘planting a tree for the Jubilee’ and received a grant from Hertfordshire County Council towards planting the trees.
Councillor Steve Jarvis, Executive Member for Environment and Leisure, said: “We picked the Blue Cedar especially because it is easily recognisable with its steel blue foliage. In addition, we wanted all the trees across the district to be the same, and this species is also suited to the chalkier soil in Baldock and Royston.
“These special trees for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee will help improve local biodiversity and air quality, and help us fight against climate change, reinforcing our recent tree giveaway. This campaign was very successful and saw residents and community organisations join forces to reduce carbon emissions by planting 10,000 saplings across the district.”
The Blue Cedars, which will produce barrel shaped cones up to 12cm (5in) long and appear in late summer, are located at:
- Butts Close, Hitchin
- Bancroft Recreation Ground, Hitchin
- Howard Gardens, Letchworth
- Norton Common, Letchworth
- Avenue Park, Baldock
- Chiltern Recreation Ground, Baldock
- Priory Gardens, Royston
- Serby Avenue Recreation Ground, Royston
Tree facts – Did you know…
- a mature tree can absorb up to 150kg of CO2 a year
- UK greenspaces remove up to 1.3 billion kg of air pollutants each year
- well-placed trees can help cool the air between 2 and 8 degrees in urban communities.
Source: Map - The Queen’s Green Canopy (queensgreencanopy.org)
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