Plant a Tree in 73

Algarveaddick

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)?       

golfaddick

Algarveaddick said:

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'....

Big_Bad_World

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.

Addickted

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

iainment

We planted about 25 acres to native Irish trees a few years ago - ash, elder, oak and others I can’t remember. Part of an Irish government scheme funded by the EU. The company that planted the trees look after them for, I think, 5 years. After that they should be able to grow without monitoring. During the 5 years they replace any that die. We receive an annual payment that exceeds what we got for renting the fields out.
It’s fascinating to see the changes as the saplings grow from twigs to saplings to trees. 

We look forward to seeing the wildlife that will come to this new mini environment. 

Although due to Covid it’s been about 5 months since we could get over to Kerry. 

I hope to get over before the end of October to see them again.

letthegoodtimesroll

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...

johnnyhumphrey

What happened to Buy a Saw in 74?

Carter

I'm heaving laughing at a long forgotten memory you have just awoken @letthegoodtimesroll

When I was at primary school we played football at the school every Saturday morning and one time around conker season we all went mad picking them up and one boy, James, who was absolutely not the brightest star in the sky then had the idea to lob half a brick he found up in the tree to release the good ones. I watched as he stood underneath the tree, launched this brick lump surprisingly high for a child of that age and it went dead straight, he stared upwards at it and watched as gravity did what gravity does and the brick smacked him right on the forehead 

He collapsed like a string puppet and a grown up who I assume had watched at least part of this sprinted over to see if he was OK, he seemed OK apart from a massive lump immediately sprouting from his bonce and as he was picked up and put on his feet a massive conker, still in its green shell, fell out of the tree and whacked him on the top of his melon dropping him again 

I know I shouldn't have laughed but this was so so funny and could only happen to this kid 

If it wasn't for the fact he was a bit of a space cadet as a child I would say that incident made him as vacant as he is today but that's probably the weed as much as anything 

rananegra

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. 

Fortune 82nd Minute

Now this brings back happy memories!

I joined the civil service in 1975 and there were these posters saying plant a tree in 73 in our office!

I remember as time went on we wrote underneath 

Plant some more in 74

Keep em alive in 75 and

Chop em into sticks in 76

Then I got transfered and that was the end of that! 

What wags we were in those days! 

N01R4M

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 

charltonkeston

Algarveaddick said:

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. 

grumpyaddick

At last, a thread you can get really your teeth into...

What has happened since 1974 when trees and the planting of them, were generally thought to be a positive thing?? They look wonderful, muffle traffic noise, create shade, produce clean air we can breathe and birds and wildlife live in them.

In my neighbourhood, which is a conservation area so trees are supposed to be protected, everyone chops down trees with impunity at the first opportunity. I had to stop two charming east European gentleman armed with a B&Q chainsaw from removing a beautiful mature ash tree last month and now someone else is trying to remove a lovely old walnut tree because "it's a danger to children".

The real reason is the trees have the audacity to not conform with a tasteless vanity project being implemented in the garden or even worse. they  partially obscure the light shining on a newly installed kitchen.

I have never thought of myself as the tree hugging type but these ignorant knobs need stinging up from the branches of a tree for a few hours so they can fully appreciate their beauty ...

MrWalker

My Granddad planted one of a huge avenue of trees in the grounds of the Horniman Museum - most still there and thriving.
My current employer applied for, and received, 400 saplings from the Woodland Trust last year. All planted and set to go!