Queen’s Green Canopy scheme extended for people to plant trees in her memory

The project which saw hundreds of trees planted in the West Country has now been extended

A tree-planting initiative to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee has been extended to allow people to plant trees as a memorial to the monarch.

The Queen’s Green Canopy scheme was launched to encourage people to “Plant a tree for the Jubilee” from October 2021 through to the end of 2022, to mark her 70 years on the throne.

The project which saw hundreds of trees planted in the West Country has now been extended to include the full autumn-to-spring tree planting season.

It will conclude at the end of March 2023, to give people the opportunity to plant trees in the Queen’s memory.

More than a million trees were planted for the project during the first planting season of the Platinum Jubilee year by communities, schools, organisations and individuals.

  • Watch Adam Grierson's report on a project in Taunton

In a statement, the scheme’s organisers said: “Following the wishes of our patron, His Majesty The King, the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative will be extended to the end of March 2023 to give people the opportunity to plant trees in memoriam to honour Her Majesty.

“The Queen’s Green Canopy is proud to be creating a living legacy, with over a million trees planted in Her Majesty’s name across the nation during the first planting season, October 2021 to March 2022."

In Somerset more than 20,000 trees have been planted in Taunton, in a project that has joined forces with the Queen's Green Canopy.

Andrew Hampshire, a volunteer at Somerset Wood, said: "Whatever we do here is for the future generations, helping them.

"Obviously climate change is a hot topic, it's really important to everyone. There's some trees planted here that we are not going to see fully grown but whatever we can do to help the future generations is important."

Cllr Hazel Prior-Sankey, from Somerset West and Taunton Council, said: "I think it's a living and lasting initiative that even 50 years down the line will be an established and long-lasting memory.

"So that my grandchildren who are now in their tens and teens will remember it and I shall certainly be telling them what this was planted in honour of."

A statement from the Woodland Trust, a leading partner in the project, said: “Her Majesty was known for her love of trees from a very early age, and we believe trees are the perfect way to commemorate her extraordinary life and pay tribute to her 70 years of dedicated service."