Coalville area residents are being invited to take part in the Free Tree Scheme from next Monday (Oct 11).

The scheme is organised by North West Leicestershire District Council and will be open for online applications on Monday 11 October 2021 and close on Friday 29 October 2021.

Since the scheme started the residents of North West Leicestershire have planted over 129,000 trees and the council has once again teamed up with The National Forest Company to make the district even greener.

The council says the following trees are available this year:

• Holly (Ilex Aquifolium) - an evergreen shrub growing to 12m tall. Its small, oval leaves have a puckered upper surface and short, sharp spines cover the entire leaf

• Dogwood (Cornus Sanguinea) - is a deciduous shrub of upright, bushy habit, with young shoots reddish in winter, ovate leaves turning deep red in autumn, and small white flowers in flat clusters, followed by black berries.

• Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia ) An elegant tree with delicate green leaves bearing clusters of creamy white flowers in spring and bright red berries in autumn, loved by birds. Grows up to 15m tall.

• Bird Cherry (Prunus Padus) An attractive flowering tree with almond scented flowers in May. These turn into small black bitter fruits. Good orange yellow leaf colour in autumn. Grows up to 15m tall

The offer is available to each household and community organisation within the district to apply for up to two trees.

The council is also organising The Hedge Fund

If there are gaps appearing in your hedgerow, you can apply for up to 30 metres of a mix of Hawthorn, Dogwood with a Rowan every 10 metres.

The aim is to help plant up the National Forest and provide more hedgerow corridors to help link wildlife habitats.

This scheme is open to residents, landowners, local groups and local schools.

For more details, click HERE.