Help us map the trees at Tortworth Arboretum

| 07/09/18

We’re very pleased to announce a new project starting at the arboretum! We now have funding to do what we’ve been wanting to do for a long time – map the woods and tree specimens. This comes thanks to a generous grant from Heritage Lottery, needless to say we’re very excited!

What we have planned:

The project will take place over the next eight months, we will be:

  • Using professional GPS equipment to record each trees position
  • Creating a digital map of the arboretum (using QGIS and lots of geekery)
  • Creating a new numbering system for the collection
  • Identifying rare tree specimens
  • Measuring and recording top trees
  • Continuing with clearance and promoting tree health
  • Creating and labeling new pathways
  • Planting new trees (Yay!)
  • Researching historical information about the arboretum
  • Refreshing our website to include downloads and lots of tree details

 

The finished product will be a new map and full list of all the exotic trees we have – something which is essential for ongoing maintenance and future planning.

How to get involved

We will be doing the mapping on our Volunteer Sundays, along with our usual practical tasks. There will also be additional volunteer days to record and archive historical information about the woodland, including looking at old maps and tree lists and collating them for the website.

Would you like to join us? If so sign-up to our Mapping Newsletter to hear more and keep in the loop.

Meetings

We would love your input to help shape the project, so to kick things off we will be holding two public meet-ups –  a chance to discuss the project and talk over ideas for how we should go about the process, what might be possible and get valuable input.

The first will be at the beginning of our next volunteer Sunday (September the 16th, 10:30am) and on then another in the evening on Wednesday the 19th September (7pm), both at the village hall in Cromhall.

If you would like to come along please sign-up to the Mapping Newsletter or get in touch with us for directions.

Look forward to getting started!