TREE-mendous effort by Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s estate team in new year planting initiative

Yorkshire Sculpture Park (YSP)’s Estate Team, along with staff from Wakefield Council, planted a staggering 550 saplings in a single day as part of a Yorkshire-wide push to reduce the impact of climate change.

The eight-strong YSP team led by Head of Estates Mark Chesman, put in a huge back breaking shift to plant the trees at Bullcliff Wood, just a couple of miles away from YSP’s own 500-acre estate at Bretton, Wakefield.

Bullcliff Wood is part of the wider White Rose Forest (WRF), a community forest for North and West Yorkshire. The WRF charity works with communities, landowners and farmers, providing free support for the planning, funding and planting of new woodland across the region. www.whiteroseforest.org.

Said Mark: “We became aware of the opportunity to contribute to the White Rose Forest through Wakefield Council’s Climate Action Team, and staff at YSP were very keen to offer their support and experience. We all had a great day and there is a real sense of achievement when you see what a difference you can make in a relatively short space of time.”

YSP’s Estate team is engaged in an all-year-round programme of planting and tree management at YSP to ensure the Park is always looking its very best for visitors. This includes managing around 1,713 individual parkland trees and more than 100 acres of mixed woodland. Surveys are carried out every 18 months and YSP is also home to three ‘ancient’ trees including a majestic Ash believed to be up to 500 years old.

In addition, YSP also manages many other notable species including Black Pine, Hornbeam, Field Maple, Red Horse chestnut, Cut-leaf Beech, Atlas and Deodar Cedar, Golden Yew, Japanese Cherry, Gingko and Wellingtonia.