Volunteers plant mini-forest

UP TO 30 volunteers with Clondalkin Tidy Town spent last Saturday morning preparing the ground in Corkagh Park for the planting of a mini-forest.

Mini-forests have been planted in cities across the world, and while over forty forests have been planted in Clondalkin and the Tallaght region, this is the first planted by Clondalkin Tidy Towns.

As part of the process, soil preparation involves covering the area to be planted with newspapers, followed by covering these with cardboard, and top it off with bark mulch.

The site is left like this for six months to allow for the nutrients to rot into the soil.

Planting happens in winter, when bare root saplings are planted close together and then native tree species are planted.

The benefits of this planting regime are rapid growth of the forest, up to five times faster than regular growth patterns.

Tree species variety gives the benefit of biodiversity.

The science of this technique was developed by the Japanese botanist Akira Miyawaki.

Clondalkin Tidy Towns meet in the car-park behind the Civic offices every Saturday morning at 10am and new volunteers are welcome.

The next workday will be Saturday, January 27.

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