Holly trees planted on park border set to flourish

Friends of Millhouses Park

100 holly trees were planted on the border of Millhouses Park last weekend following a joint venture to reinstate them after the drought of 2018.

Friends of Millhouses Park have worked alongside Sheffield City Council and its highways contractor, Amey to reinstate 100 holly trees after they succumbed to the warm and dry weather conditions during the summer of last year.

The new trees have been bedded into mulch and it’s hoped that, once fully grown, they will provide a hedge-like border, shielding the park from any pollutants and noise arising from the adjacent road.

Cabinet member for Culture, parks and leisure at Sheffield City Council, Councillor, Mary lea said:

“It’s great that the hard work and dedication of all involved in this project has enabled us to reinstate this row of trees which borders one of the city’s most popular parks. The area immediately adjacent to the new trees is used regularly for recreational leisure activities, including ball games, so having an established border makes the area much safer.”

The joint effort to reinstate the trees along the parks border will, in time, create a prominent border, making the park more enclosed and safer for visitors.

Friends of Millhouses Park member, Ted Gunby said:

“A couple of years ago, Friends of Millhouses Park planted enough holly whips to make a hedge 250m long at the south end of Millhouses Park. The hedge runs alongside the road and, so, we planted it to try to reduce the traffic pollution going into a part of the park where children often play ball games.

“Unfortunately, in last summer's drought we lost over a hundred of the young trees.

“Fortunately, Amey came to our rescue and bought us some replacement hollies. The Council’s Parks and Countryside team have also helped reinstate the trees by providing mulch, giving the trees the best possible chance of survival.  It’s been a good team effort all round and we can’t wait to see the trees flourish in coming years.”

Darren Butt, Account Director at Streets Ahead, Amey said:

“It’s been a pleasure to be able to help out with this community project, which will see the formation of a brand new park border, in the form of holly trees.

“We always try and support local groups with requests such as this, wherever possible, in the hope that we can help improve outdoor spaces, which are valuable assets here in Sheffield.”

This project follows on from the council’s new Trees and Woodlands Strategy, which was released at the end of last year and will see at least 100,000 additional trees planted and replaced on a 2 for 1 basis in the city’s greenspaces and woodlands over the next 10 years.

Boasting more than 800 parks and green spaces, Sheffield is one of the greenest and most wooded cities in Europe and the greenest city in the UK. The city is proud of its rich variety of urban parks, woodland, countryside and other green spaces which are extremely popular destinations, attracting more than 25 million visits each year.