Plant nursery, Johnsons Nurseries Ltd, has supplied 29,000 woodland trees and whips to the 20,000-acre Swinton Estate in Masham, North Yorkshire, to create new woodlands in the north of England.
Over 30 varieties of trees were supplied to the Estate, via The DTMS Group, which has been contracted to deliver the landscaping for the project. The varieties included Pinus sylvestris, Picea abies, Sorbus aucuparia, Quercus robur, Salix caprea, and Acer campestre.
Trees were specifically selected and sited for water and biodiversity improvements and for their many climate benefits from providing oxygen and absorbing carbon dioxide to providing resources and habitat to wildlife.
Funding for this project has come from the White Rose Forest via their Trees for Climate programme, part of the Government’s Nature for Climate Fund. The White Rose Forest is the Community Forest for North and West Yorkshire and works with landowners, businesses and communities across the region to provide support and funding for woodland creation projects that will benefit communities and the environment.
Founded in 1921, Johnsons Nurseries has vast experience in contract growing for hotel developments on a large scale, having provided both Seaham Hall, in Durham, Grantley Hall in Ripon, Another Place in Ullswater and The Torridon, a 5-star luxury Scottish Highland Hotel, with substantial amounts of plants.
Johnsons Nurseries’ marketing manager, Eleanor Richardson, said:
We were excited to work on this project in collaboration with the Swinton Estate, The DTMS Group, and the White Rose Forest.
Johnsons has over 100 years of experience in sourcing and supplying the highest quality plants, finding the best species suited to our clients’ needs.
The trees that we supplied included a range of native species, from pines to oaks, enhancing the natural beauty of the estate and contributing to improving biodiversity and water quality.
Will Richardson, Forestry Advisor to the Swinton Estate said:
The Swinton Estate have a long-term ambition to increase tree cover by 50% over the next 20 years, creating around 350ha of new mixed woodland and wood pasture. This is driven by a desire to improve sustainability and nature conservation across the estate, sequester carbon and to produce sustainable crops of timber in years to come. This has been the first phase of this programme, and we are delighted with the contributions made by the White Rose Forest, DTMS as contractors and Johnsons as tree suppliers in helping us to deliver this. We very much look forward to seeing the new woodland thrive and mature over the years.
Felicity Cunliffe-Lister is married to Mark Cunliffe-Lister, the Earl of Swinton, whos family have owned Swinton Park since the 1880s.
Felicity Cunliffe-Lister said:
I’m very proud of the Swinton Estate for taking the lead on this and making such a significant commitment to sequestering carbon, flood mitigation and improving biodiversity. The potential, in terms of the carbon credit and BNG market, is also significant and this project will be a good pilot to monitor.
DTMS Group’s Managing Director, Dan Lazenby added:
We at DTMS were excited to be given the challenge of planting such a substantial quantity of trees with a deadline fast approaching.
The team achieved this despite some very challenging conditions and received positive feedback in the process from our client, Swinton Estate. It was a great scheme to be part of and provided us with opportunities to develop all staff members, including our Horticulture apprentice.
We welcome any opportunities to work alongside fellow local businesses, especially when we are enhancing the environment in the process.
