Marylebone and Fitzrovia – Over 1,000 new trees now added to neighbourhood

It has been another very good year for street tree planting for Marylebone and Fitzrovia. We are delighted to have worked with Westminster to reach this target to complete the area’s green grid. Since 2009, the project has planted 1,012 trees on our central London streets.

We were delighted to have Alan Titchmarsh, celebrity broadcaster and gardening expert, plant our 1000th street tree. The event was very special in that Alan helped us very early on in our project to return Elm trees to Bolsover street in 2011. He then motivated us to continue our quest to green our neighbourhood as much as possible. And here we are, over a decade later, with over a thousand new trees in the ground.

We were delighted to have Alan Titchmarsh, celebrity broadcaster and gardening expert, join us to plant our 1,000th tree

In a well-attended ceremony, we heard from Peter Ruback CBE, chair of the Westminster Tree Trust and the Lord Mayor, Cllr Hamza Taouzzale. Some interesting tree facts were given by Cllr Karen Scarborough and then by celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh MBE.

Over one thousand trees have now been planted across our neighbourhoods since 2009. This effort was also to support the All London Green Grid, Marylebone’s Low Emission Neighbourhood (LEN), Fitzrovia Forest and Oxford Street District projects. A significant number of ornamental chanticleer pear trees, along with 25 other species* have been planted over the last decade. We remain interested to see how additional trees might be delivered as part of future public realm projects in our locality.

Our planting events have included plenty of useful pedagogical opportunities for local schoolchildren

Green streetscapes are proven to reduce anti-social behaviour and the impact of harmful traffic pollution, they encourage walking and have a recognised positive impact on people’s mood. They also increase the sense of neighbourhood collaboration in taking care of the health of the trees and the local environment. Trees also provide a visually calming element in a traffic blighted urban environment. The planting events included plenty of useful pedagogical opportunities for local schoolchildren. Our ambition is to make our neighbourhood one of the ‘greenest’ in the city and for our trees to trigger further initiatives to improve our environment.

In a well-attended ceremony, we heard from Peter Ruback CBE, chair of the Westminster Tree Trust and Lord Mayor, Cllr Hamza Taouzzale. Some interesting tree facts were given by Cllr Karen Scarborough and then by celebrity gardener Alan Titchmarsh MBE.

A portion of the 1,000 trees planted so far includes those sponsored by The Portman and Howard de Walden Estates as part of projects for Baker Street and Wigmore Street. The W1W Tree Planting Initiative (Westminster Tree Trust) will have contributed over £20,000 towards the cost of the trees planted in the last two seasons. Over the last decade, over £80,000 has been raised from local stakeholders and residents who are keen to see greener local streets.* The Portman Estate recently put forward a project for further tree sites in West Marylebone. Howard de Walden was also reviewing greening opportunities on their estate.

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  marylebone and fitzrovia 1000th tree planting

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  marylebone and fitzrovia tree planting

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  Opening address for Marylebone 1000th Tree

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  St Vincents Primary School tree planting

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  Micheal Bolt (Chair) & Julie Redmond of the Marylebone Association at 1000th tree planting

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  St Vincents Primary School tree planting

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  Yael Saunders, Chair of the Marylebone Forum & Lord Mayor, Cllr Hamza Taouzzale at 1000th tree planting

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  St Vincents Primary School tree planting

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  Marylebone 1000th Tree

We remain grateful for all efforts made by Westminster to make this great result possible. Many thanks also to The Portman Estate, Howard de Walden Estate and Ridgeford Properties for sponsoring our splendid Ginkgo biloba 1,000th tree.

The planting of our 1000th tree took place on Blanford Street, Marylebone on the 29th of June

• The new trees planted in our neighbourhood include the following: Pyrus chanticleer, Amelanchier arborea ‘Robin Hill’, Koelreuteria paniculata, Betula utilis jacquemontii, Betula keniaca, Betula ermanii, Prunus accolade, Prunus hillieri ‘Spire’, Ulmus ‘New horizon’, Gingko biloba, Platanus x hispanica, Betula nigra, Celtis australis, Prunus shimidsu sakura, Liquidamabar styraciflua ‘Worplesdon’, Liriodendron tulipifera, Prunus ‘Sunset boulevard’, Magnolia Kobus, Olea europaea, Betula pendulala

• The Initiative has benefited from support from all sides of the community.  We are especially grateful for the generosity of The Princess Grace Hospital and The Harley Street Clinic, The Portland Hospital, Groundwork London (Forestry Commission), The Howard de Walden Estate, The Portland Estate, Ridgeford Properties and The Langham London.  The Weymouth Street phase was also made possible by a generous contribution from Groundwork London through the Forestry Commission’s London Tree and Woodland Grant Scheme and Big Tree Plant.  Furthermore, the Initiative was included in the local charity programmes of Sainsbury’s (Great Portland Street) and Waitrose (Marylebone High Street).  The Initiative is especially grateful for the support of Westminster City Council without whom little progress would have been possible.