Urban trees planted in poor-quality soil using a method inspired by a Japanese botanist return higher survival rates than standard approaches, which could make it more cost-effective to establish trees, according to new trial results.
The 'Trees Outside Woodland' project, a partnership led by The Tree Council, Defra, and Natural England, with Kent County Council, Chichester District Council, Cornwall Council, Norfolk County Council, and Shropshire Council, seeks to identify cost-effective methods that could be adopted by local authorities to increase tree canopy cover in England.
Jon Stokes, Director of Trees, Science & Research at The Tree Council said: "In the first three years after planting, the survival rates of young trees in urban areas can be very low. We, therefore, set out to test alternative planting methods to see if we could identify practices that improved survival rates and made trees less vulnerable to issues such as vandalism. Solving this puzzle is key to helping local authorities deliver successful and cost-effective tree planting, unlocking all the benefits that urban trees have to offer. One of the methods which we trialed was the Miyawaki method".
The Miyawaki method, developed by Japanese botanist Dr Akira Miyawaki, involves high-density planting in specially prepared soil. It has had great results in Japan, where it was first used to plant trees in the 1970s. However, when this project began, in 2020, it was almost unknown in the UK. This project has tested the approach's viability and cost-effectiveness compared to standard planting methods.
Read more at: treecouncil.org.uk