Planting trees, growing communities: How King's gained 2000 trees in four years

Sowing the Seeds: 2019

I joined King’s College London in September 2021 for my undergraduate degree in War Studies. Before this, I lived in Birmingham and was part of a project called Students for Trees, run by SOS-UK and The Woodland Trust, which aimed to increase youth engagement with trees and woodlands. My first tree planting event was in my hometown - 100 trees on an abandoned patch of land - with trees supplied by The Woodland Trust as part of their annual scheme providing free trees to schools and communities.

When I moved to London, I was eager to do something similar at King’s. I knew that planting trees had a tangible impact on combating the climate crisis; by sequestering carbon and purifying air, especially necessary in a polluted city such as London; by promoting wildlife and providing safe havens for numerous species of birds, insects, and small animals. I knew that trees boost our wellbeing and our mental health - there is a reason that so many NHS trusts have started schemes to help people with anxiety, depression, even schizophrenia gain access to forested spaces. But I hadn’t realised how rewarding the community aspect of tree planting could be. What started as a way to give back to the environment ended up giving so much back to me, and I wanted to share this feeling.

Taking root: November 2021

In all honesty, setting up an event at King’s felt quite difficult. I wasn’t sure whom to contact, where to plant the trees, hell, I barely even knew how to get from my lecture in Strand building to a seminar in Bush House! But I did have prior knowledge of planting, a way to source free trees, and a healthy dose of dogged determination. After a few emails, Nicola Hogan, Sustainability Operations Manager at King’s, responded to me – she was in! She put me in touch with King’s groundskeepers who (eventually!) gave us permission to plant 30 trees at New Malden Sports Ground. Having Nicola on board really got the ball rolling and got me in touch with all the right people. Unfortunately, I was still a green first-year finding my feet, and had left this all a bit last minute. Namely, by failing to successfully advertise the event. That year, in November 2021, there were four of us: me, Nicola, my sister, and one earnest masters student. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t slightly disappointed, after all it had taken us to get here, I wanted more volunteers, but we saw it as an opportunity - to kick into gear and get a headstart on planning the next one.

A sapling emerges: March 2022

This time around, I knew what I was doing. Ambitiously, Nicola and I had decided to try for 250 trees - part of the Woodland Trust’s ‘Big Climate Fightback’. These would be mainly in hedgerows, encircling the perimeter of Honor Oak Sportsground; blackthorns, hawthorns, hazels, crab apples, and dogwoods. By now, I was slightly more familiar with King’s and I poured my soul into advertising this event; sticking up posters around campus, chasing societies, and making graphics for campus-screens. We had roughly 50 people trickle in and out, some with friends, some with children, some by themselves - it was incredible.

There are some chaotic aspects to this first event I don’t miss - namely lugging 15 spades on the tube across London from New Malden to Honor Oak Park! There were some mistakes that we made and have since learnt from - not having any compost to help the saplings establish, not giving them enough water as we planted them. But there are so many things that we have carried forward to future events - planting in hedgerows for efficiency, whom to contact and how to get things in place, but most importantly, that enriching feeling of bringing people together. So many people came up to us to say just how much fun they’d had – we had achieved exactly what we set out to do.

Continuing to grow: 2023

The next year, I went away to study abroad and couldn’t be at King’s to organise the event. When I emailed the Sustainability team to touch base in the new academic year, Nicola was already spearheading the whole thing again! This time with 200 trees from The Conservation Volunteers. Following the success of the first year, the logistical support had grown, more Sustainability staff were now involved - not only in the planning, in the planting too. Tree Planting was an official volunteering opportunity that students could be rewarded for and staff could take leave for. I began to realise that this scheme could genuinely have a tangible impact on the future of these spaces in London - hopefully some of these trees would last for generations.

In full bloom: 2024-present

When I came back for my third and final year at King’s, it felt a bit more like clockwork: the trees had been ordered, the Climate & Sustainability team was advertising, the groundskeepers were ready. Of course there was still lots to do (tools still needed lugging and posters needed sticking!), but somewhere in the past couple of years, a little tree-planting network had grown. That year alone (2024) we planted 1150 trees across two planting sessions. By the time of the April planting, we had an electric van transporting tools to the site, a great turnout of both staff and students, and we could even spot some saplings from previous years that had started to grow out of their protective spirals.

Having now graduated, this year (2025) was the first year that I’ve had no organisational involvement, and of course, thanks to the whole team at King’s Climate & Sustainability it was a resounding success. I attended one of the two events as a volunteer and had a truly great day out planting. It seems that whenever we have tree planting events the universe shows its token of appreciation by blessing the day with fantastic weather. Though I have to confess, I definitely worked a lot harder as a volunteer - it turns out that there is a lot more physical labour and much less ‘supervision’ (walking around telling people what to do!). Regardless, 250 trees later, Honor Oak Sports Ground is looking better than ever.

Where to next?

In just four years, we have planted over 2000 trees on King’s grounds, a number that I hope continues to grow. Sapling survival rates are tenuous (anywhere between 50%-75% can be expected) and there are still spaces to be filled. In other words, there is still work to be done!

Let me say this much, whether you have never touched a spade in your life or you are a green-fingered eco-warrior looking for your next challenge - try tree planting. It is rewarding, it is effective, and most of all, it’s fun. To any fellow students of King’s, let’s keep up the student representation! This is our campus, and our future, so it’s up to us to determine what they both look like. If anyone wants to get involved in tree planting organisation, please do send me a message. Maybe you could organise a planting in your local area? Or maybe you could be the next student to help run it at King’s?

One thing is for certain, I have no doubt that these planting events will continue to make a real difference at King’s. Not only by improving our air quality and rewilding our green spaces. Not only by helping King’s lead in assisting national net zero targets. But by bringing people together, to escape the hectic London city bubble every once in a while, to give back to nature, and to build a community. As for me, I hope that in decades to come, I can go back and visit fully grown hawthorns and hazels, knowing we had a small part in creating them.