Watch more of our videos on Shots!
and live on Freeview channel 276

The Ouseburn Trust in Newcastle recently posted on social media about the need to fell a stricken poplar tree.

The Alnwick Garden got in touch to offer its support and has now donated four apple trees and 200 hedgerow plants including hazel, hawthorn, rowan and dogwood.

They will not only replenish the green spaces managed by the Trust and Wild Roots Community Garden, but will help foster local biodiversity, creating new habitats for wildlife and aiding in the maintenance of the valley’s local ecosystems.

Dale Bolland and Cat Scaife (Ouseburn Trust), Ian McAllister (The Alnwick Garden), Katherine Newman (Wild Roots Community Garden).

Cath Scaife, project officer at the Ouseburn Trust, said: “We were thrilled to hear from The Alnwick Garden after we shared news that a tree in Ouseburn needed to be felled due to poor health. We won't be planting back in that spot just yet, but this kind donation means we can add life to a number of other locations around the valley.

“We plan to reinvigorate a planted bed overlooking the Tyne, next to a statue of William Lisle Blenkinsopp Coulson, a campaigner for animal welfare. We started improving this bed last year with a generous donation of plants for pollinators from Scotswood Community Garden.

"Adding hedgerow to the back of the bed will give the flowering plants more protection and will create a welcome pocket of green space which will be a refuge for wildlife next to the busy City Road.”

The planting is set to take place in March and will be a joint effort between the volunteers of Ouseburn Trust and Wild Roots Community Garden.

The Alnwick Garden’s Ian McAllister and Cath Scaife from Ouseburn Trust.

Nick Figgis, project manager for Wild Roots said: "We're delighted with this donation and show of support from The Alnwick Garden - a beautiful and established garden helping a new community garden to get on our feet.

"We've been on the lookout for shrubs and apple trees since we got started so it’s lovely to think of all the people who will enjoy plants and home-grown apples in the decades to come.”

Wild Roots was set up to create habitats for native wildlife and to give people access to nature in an urban setting.

The Alnwick Garden donates trees and shrubs to rejuvenate greenery in Ouseburn