Tree Planting

In 2019 Billericay Lions in association with Billericay Tree Wardens planted a grove of six elm trees in Lake Meadows to commemorate 40 years of service in the town.

The weather in 2020 wasn’t ideal for young trees and only five survived. Since then, Billericay Tree Wardens have been endeavouring to source a suitable replacement and their efforts were finally rewarded with the delivery of a new tree in time for a small group of Tree Wardens and Lions to gather on New Year’s Eve 2021 to plant the replacement.

The trees are of the Ulmus Columella variety, a Dutch elm cultivar raised by the Dorschkamp Research Institute for Forestry & Landscape Planning, Wageningen, from a selfed or openly pollinated seedling of the hybrid clone ‘Plantyn’ sown in 1967. It was released for sale in 1989 after proving extremely resistant to Dutch elm disease.

The grove is again complete and in the centre is a bench for you to sit and enjoy the view of the lake. We look forward to watching the trees grow and mature in the coming years as Lions continue their work supporting the local community.