We had 180 volunteers join us at Ashburton Playing Fields in Croydon on Saturday 30th November to plant 3615 whips and wrap up Trees for Cities' 30th year celebrations. It was a mild, dry day - perfect planting weather, and the sun even came out near the end!

The Carribé Steel Band kept up the high spirits with festive tunes, and the Roaming Trees provided tree-mendous entertainment throughout the day. The Museum of Memorable Trees, an immersive art installation exploring the deep connections people have with trees, provided an informative break inbetween planting, and attendees could get their face painted by the talented ABC Face Paints. We were also joined by our partner in improving accessibility to nature in the Collective Climate Repair project, The Sensory Trust, and St Christopher’s Hospice who had set up a community memorial tree in the park at our last Ashburton Playing Fields planting event.

We also also debuted our unique photo post which offers the community ongoing opportunities to engage with the project and observe the progress of the woodland as it grows.

Why did we plant trees here?

Ashburton Playing Fields are part of a green corridor which runs from Addington Hills through Addiscombe, Woodside & Shirley Leisure Gardens Allotments, Ashburton Playing Fields, Long Lane Wood and up to South Norwood Country Park. Long Lane Wood is a remaining fragment of the Great North Wood and is home to Bywood Avenue Bird Sanctuary (a fenced off area of woodland intended as nature reserve).

Being part of this green corridor, the new woodland area will provide additional habitat for wildlife. Alongside Bywood Avenue Bird Sanctuary, this will benefit the local bird population and will enhance the biodiversity of the surrounding landscape.

The planting design has been set out to ensure ample space is maintained for sporting activities and other recreation. Walking routes have been taken into consideration and the design incorporates clear pathways and open areas of woodland. The individual trees along the pathway will offer shade along the walking route and will also add depth and interest to the space. Scrub islands within the south section of the site will support butterflies and other invertebrates.

Thank you for your feedback

We received valuable feedback during our community consultation on the the project and have made amendments to the original plans.

Click the links below to see the updated designs.

The yellow areas on the map show where we would be planting new woodland sections. In these spaces, the trees would be planted as small saplings (some only about 30cm tall) and will grow together into a woodland with a minimum of 8m wide paths and wider glades between sections. The pink dots represent scrub islands (groups of 6 saplings) and the red dots represent individual standard (larger) trees. Some of the standard trees will have a group of three smaller trees around them, these are marked in green.

Recent tree planting

In March 2024, Trees for Cities along with volunteers from local schools and the community planted a selection of 44 large trees along the borders of the playing fields. These trees contribute to increasing canopy cover in the area and improving amenity value.