Front Garden Forests

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Front Garden Forests

Issue:
Urban and suburban areas are increasingly losing green space, especially in front gardens, which are often paved over for parking or left unused. This reduces the ability to absorb rainwater, contributes to localised surface water flooding, and leaves streets less welcoming for pollinators.

Solution:
This project will put nature back into the heart of our communities by planting flowering trees in front gardens. These trees will help absorb surface water, provide early spring blossom for pollinators, capture carbon, and create a more pleasant, biodiverse environment for everyone to enjoy.

Benefits:
Front Garden Forests will transform small spaces into green infrastructure; soaking up rainwater, reducing flood risk, and adding natural beauty to the neighbourhoods in Wootton Brook and Harpers Brook. The trees will offer vital forage for pollinators, boost air quality, and contribute to a cooler, more climate-resilient local environment.

Supporting this project is a way to invest directly in community wellbeing, biodiversity, and sustainable urban living – tree by tree, garden by garden.

🌟 Star Fact: According to Forest Research, broadleaf trees, such as cherry blossoms and magnolias, can intercept between 10% to 25% of annual rainfall, reducing surface water runoff and mitigating flood risks.

Catchment: Harpers & Wootton Brook

This project will offer 100 beautiful blossom trees, including cherry and magnolia, to households across more urban parts of the Harpers Brook and Wootton Brook catchments. By planting trees in front gardens, we aim to create a patchwork of greener, more resilient neighbourhoods that not only look stunning, but also help manage surface water, while supporting local wildlife.

Target: £0 raised of £8,000

0% of funding target

Nature-Based Projects

Trees in Parks

Catchment: Harpers & Wootton Brook

The Trees in Parks project will plant a collection of striking specimen trees—such as ginkgo and liquidambar—in public parks and open green spaces across the Harpers Brook and Wootton Brook catchments. These trees will form elegant avenues and focal points that enhance local landscapes, provide shade, support pollinators, and improve resilience to flooding and climate change.

Target: £0 raised of £42,000

0% of funding target

One Mile of Hedgerows

Catchment: Harpers and Wootton Brook

This project will create one mile of new hedgerow across the Harpers Brook and Wootton Brook catchments, linking farmland, villages, and small holdings to form a rich, connected landscape that supports biodiversity, slows surface water runoff, and contributes to climate resilience.

Target: £0 raised of £20,000

0% of Funding Target

NFM at Penvale Park, East Hunsbury

Catchment: Wootton Brook

Installation of land bund, land reprofiling, enhancing drainage, and adding leaky dams.

Target: £15,000 raised of £15,000 target

100% Funded