Science Foundation Ireland in partnership with Coillte and Easytreesie have donated 500 native trees to Gonzaga College. Easytreesie is a member of the children and youth initiative Plant-for-the-Planet , where 70 countries worldwide have each pledged that one million trees be planted by one million children. Ireland is currently at 65,000 and aim to reach one million my 2023. See here for further details.
Plant for the Planet are mobilising for the planting of a trillion trees worldwide and have developed the Plant-for-the-Planet App to help in achieving this.
We invite visitors to our Christmas fair on Sunday 1st December to take one or more trees to plant at home. They will be distributed on a first come first served basis beginning at 12.30pm outside the main entrance to the school.
If you are interested in this initiative, bring along an old plastic bag / bin liner to collect your trees. It is strongly recommended to collect between 1 to 3 trees to increase the chances of a family growing one tree to maturity.
Ideally choose a long term location for your tree but note the trees can be comfortably transplanted to different locations over the next 5 years. Please note only plant these trees in your own property, not in communal areas, public spaces or local parks.
The trees must be planted within three days of collection. Between collection and planting, soak the roots in water and protect from cold temperatures but do not keep indoors. After planting, if you have bark mulch at your disposal, cover the soil surrounding the tree, however this is not essential. Over the coming weeks don’t let your tree dry out, however given our current weather this is highly unlikely. Looking after your tree at this stage will have long lasting return.
There are four different tree species available;
Common Alder (Alnus glutinosa)
Common Birch (Betula pubescens)
Silver Birch (Betula pendula)
Pedunculate Oak (Quercus robur)
See here for details of each species
The Science Federation of Ireland website shows you how to choose the right tree for the right place and how to plant your trees.
Many thanks to arborist Sinéad McNulty for facilitating Gonzaga's involvement in this project.
Any queries can be addressed to Siobhán McNamara on Sunday. Thank you.