Macclesfield man plants 72 tree varieties in a year as he seeks volunteers
A Macclesfield man is seeking to branch out his new tree planting group to new volunteers.
Paul McCandless founded Macclesfield Community Tree Nursery one year ago, after being made redundant from his IT support job.
Since then, the green-thumbed Maxonian and his dog Pippin have planted over 72 varieties of trees around the town.
As well as linking up with landowners to plant more trees, Paul would like more volunteers for the organisation which has recently become a community interest company.
Paul grows trees from seeds, and looks after them all over Macclesfield. Many begin life nurtured at a community town centre garden on Wellington Street.
"Ultimately, our goal is to get as many trees in the ground as possible," said Paul.
"We are growing trees from seeds collected locally. The eventual plan is to grow everything from these local seeds. Short term though, we will need to rescue and rehome some trees until our seedlings are big enough to be given away.
"We have two markets for the trees we grow. The main one is people wanting to rewild their land. The trees we grow for those kind of projects are mostly native broadleaved trees (rewilding trees).
"We'd be looking to roll out hundreds for those kind of projects. The trees are ready to go when they are about two feet tall, but many of them will have potential to grow to over 130 feet. These can be the likes of oak, beech, chestnut trees.
"The other facet to what we do is for urban areas, be it streets, schools, gardens, and parks. These - street trees if you will - tend to be non-native small growing and pollution tolerant.
"Usually when things get planted in streets they are six feet plus and there might be a bit of a fanfare when they go in.
"So, those kind of trees need to be grown for several years before they are big enough. It is a bit of a long term project for us.
"We can still get some big trees in the ground, without having to wait five years, that have been rescued from other places. We have a few of those ready to go out but not too many because it is not often that someone gives you a big tree to look after, though we get lots of little ones though.
"Most of our trees have gone on green spaces and farmers lands, but it is equally important to me to be active in the streets."
Trees help suck in carbon dioxide, preventing it from being released into the atmosphere and contributing to the greenhouse effect.
As the UK government, councils and organisations pledge net zero targets, operations such as Paul's are set to skyrocket in the next decade.
But even after a tree is planted in the ground there is no guarantee it will become the carbon absorber it is hoped to be.
Trees must be maintained, and wildlife such as moles, mice, squirrels and birds will feast on the delicious trees.
Simply put, the more volunteers Paul gets, the greener Macclesfield will be. He does a similar job to Macc Wild Network, however, on a smaller scale but with a more personal touch. (And he is only focused on trees).
"I had a few volunteers help me start up, but it was just me last summer," recalled Paul.
"And now I need to return to the workplace, but still want to do this as well, so I'd love a network of volunteers to run it with me. Over the past 12 months, I have been spurred on though because everyone I've spoken to have been really supportive.
"We now have quite a wide network of helpers. Most of them helping from their homes in some way - be it as satellite growers, seed processors, advisors, scroungers, researchers, tree spotters and rescuers, and social media supporters.
"And I'd love for some people to volunteer who wouldn't mind getting their hands dirty to plant some trees. Macclesfield has a great network of volunteer groups. We've had help from quite a few of them and there are a lot of favours to pay back.
"It is strange that Macclesfield has a such good variety of trees, and Macclesfield Community Tree Nursery is here to celebrate that.
"Hopefully, word will eventually spread and people will come and volunteer or offer up a small bit of their land. If so, we can get more trees in the ground, sucking up CO2, and at the same time make our area greener, more pleasant and appealing wildlife and human-life alike.
"As well as getting more people involved, I'd also like this opportunity to promote biodiversity and green corridors."
So whether you're a business, school, landowner or individual, why not get involved?
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