PAULINE POWELL: Our trees are the lungs of the earth

Pauline Powell, coordinator of Portsmouth and Southsea tree warden in action

The Hood Room is at the back of the Club up a few steps.

We are fortunate that Jon Stokes, director of the Tree Council, will give us a talk about fascinating fungi and trees.

Each year since 1975, National Tree Week has encouraged us to celebrate our beautiful surroundings for a whole week.

Commonly described as the lungs of the earth, trees are such an important part of the world around us.

They provide us with oxygen and are great for animals, birds and insects who need them for food and a home to live in.

But with lots of trees being cut down all over the globe we can see that many humans take them for granted.

So, take a leaf out of The Tree Council’s book and branch out with your own National Tree Week event to raise the importance of tree planting.

Anyone can do it! We are.

At the start of National Tree Week, on Sunday, November 27, at 1030am in Waverley Gardens, Southsea, in the presence of Deputy Lord Mayor, Councillor Ken Ellcome, we will be planting a sweet chestnut tree, castanea sativa, to commemorate the Battle of the Somme and the part Pompey Pals played in it.

A substantial, long-lived deciduous tree, it produces an edible seed, the chestnut, which has been used in cooking since ancient times.

At the end of National Tree Week, on Sunday, December 4, at 1030am, Brandsbury Park Community Centre will be commemorating two of its very important ex-members by planting two birch trees – probably betula utilis jaquemontii, in Bransbury Park.

The birch tree is often called the Lady of the Woods due to its elegant drooping structure.

All are welcome and bring you friends!

If you would like to get involved and help celebrate and guard your community’s trees by becoming a tree warden, please call (023) 9266 7962 or through the web site, portsmouthtree.org.uk.

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