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Plant a Tree in 73

I have no idea why this sprung to mind while I was having trouble sleeping last night. I am sure the old farts like me remember this campaign. For the yoof  ;) it was a government initiative (yes, governments did once have initiative) partly to help replace the many elms that had succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease. I recall we planted a tree at my lower school in darkest Biggleswade. 

Is anyone aware of a tree from this promotion that's still thriving? I had a quick look online and read a recent article which said that a lot where neglected after the planting, and consequently died - apparently it takes a bit more than mother nature to keep a tree healthy. Some of it has to do with where trees are planted. You have to work out a place to put it where it will not become a nuisance or a hindrance in years to come. 

Who would have thought it was so complicated (apart from my old mate @Anna_Kissed who I know will be totally aware of all this already)?       

Comments

  • I have no idea why this sprung to mind while I was having trouble sleeping last night. I am sure the old farts like me remember this campaign. For the yoof  ;) it was a government initiative (yes, governments did once have initiative) partly to help replace the many elms that had succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease. I recall we planted a tree at my lower school in darkest Biggleswade. 

    Is anyone aware of a tree from this promotion that's still thriving? I had a quick look online and read a recent article which said that a lot where neglected after the planting, and consequently died - apparently it takes a bit more than mother nature to keep a tree healthy. Some of it has to do with where trees are planted. You have to work out a place to put it where it will not become a nuisance or a hindrance in years to come. 

    Who would have thought it was so complicated (apart from my old mate @Anna_Kissed who I know will be totally aware of all this already)?       
    Would have been my era but sadly I can't remember it.

    However, I did have a tree planted on my behalf  by @jimmymelrose one xmas. Thanks bro'....
  • Sounds like an amazing initiative that was well thought out from inception through to completion, and beyond in to a healthy maintenance cycle that benefited everyone it was supposed to.
  • Remember it well.
     
    Planted a willow that thrived and became a magnificent example of it's type that I was always proud of every time I went passed it.

    Blown down by the October '87 storm/hurricane
  • I was dragged up in south east London. Trees were considered unnecessary and few and far between on public highways in the area. The only ones I can recall definitely being close by were just around the corner to our house which had conkers. Many a time we used to stand under them chucking lumps of timber into the branches above us trying to dislodge conkers, and then having to dash out of the way as the lumps of wood succumbed to gravity...
  • I vaguely remember this, wasn't there a campaign of "Plant Some More in 74" as well. I was living in Erith at the time, there were a few trees on our estate but they had not thrived (the attention they got from kids probably didn't help though in those days adults would still shout out at you if you tried to play anywhere). 
    There were no street trees where I lived and the estate had been built on the site of old prefabs so there hadn't been the time for any to establish themselves. Our primary school had no field, just a tarmac playground, so it didn't come up at school. I must have seen it on the TV to remember. 
    I now live in Lewisham; there are loads of trees. One of the benefits of lockdown has been I appreciate them more and have been learning to recognise more of them. 
    Thing is, trees are good at being trees - leave it up to them and they will self seed and turn any bit of waste ground into a thicket then a wood with enough time. It's not massive but I've got a hawthorn in the garden that's self-seeded. A more dedicated gardener would have pulled it up, but I'm more of a "let the plants do what they're going to do" person and only cut things back when the rest of the family moan at me. 
  • edited September 2020
    A few years later, after two dry summers in 1975-6, the saying expanded to:

    Plant a tree in '73
    Plant some more in '74
    Scarce alive in '75
    All dry sticks by '76

    At the time, in 1973-4 it was a big campaign.  I remember a fellow teacher organising a bulk buy for families of suitable small trees for gardens.  But the following years were not kind to them.  1975 was a particularly weird weather year, with a cricket match snowed off in June in Buxton, followed by a long hot dry summer.
    https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/cricket/you-think-weather-bad-snow-11261298 
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  • I have no idea why this sprung to mind while I was having trouble sleeping last night. I am sure the old farts like me remember this campaign. For the yoof  ;) it was a government initiative (yes, governments did once have initiative) partly to help replace the many elms that had succumbed to Dutch Elm Disease. I recall we planted a tree at my lower school in darkest Biggleswade. 

    Is anyone aware of a tree from this promotion that's still thriving? I had a quick look online and read a recent article which said that a lot where neglected after the planting, and consequently died - apparently it takes a bit more than mother nature to keep a tree healthy. Some of it has to do with where trees are planted. You have to work out a place to put it where it will not become a nuisance or a hindrance in years to come. 

    Who would have thought it was so complicated (apart from my old mate @Anna_Kissed who I know will be totally aware of all this already)?       
    I remember that slogan well, Blue Peter, if I remember correctly planted a few. I doubt very many of them have lasted the nearly 50 years, we'd have forests again if we had taken it seriously.
    I've tried to do my bit, (10 different ones), although thats really a by-product of wanting a nice garden but its probably better for the environment than building patios and extensions. 
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