These are a few of our favourite Trees

For this years Tree week, our Parks Gardeners and Rangers were invited to pick trees they like across Chelmsford. They spoke to us about why these tree species are amongst their favourites. From Lime to Bramley Apple, the trees that were highlighted all contribute to the local ecosystem and are at different stages in their life cycles.

David Tebby took us on a journey to the past in Central Park as his favourite tree was planted by himself in 1975. The Common Lime, that he planted as part of a retirement ceremony, has grown to a fantastic height in the middle of Central Park and when we spoke to David we could see the passion and care he had for not just his tree but for all our city parks. The Common Lime has lovely heart shaped leaves and after 50 years of growth, it should reach over 30 metres tall, making it a towering landmark within our green spaces.

We would like to thank David Tebby, Mark Brown, Nicola Lawrence, Robin Lenartowicz and Maddy Yarham for being involved in the making of ‘Our Favourite Trees’ video and for their continued commitment to our parks and green spaces.

Please enjoy the video above and if you would like to share your stories about your favourite tree in Chelmsford, we would love to hear it and it may even be featured in socials!

Nurturing Nature – Show your love for trees during National Tree Week

National Tree Week marks a time for us to celebrate one of our greatest natural allies – trees. This annual event, led by The Tree Council, encourages people across the UK to appreciate the trees that sustain life for us all and helps our understanding about how to protect them.

Hopefully we can all cast our minds back to school days when we learnt about trees taking carbon out of the air through respiration which helps clean our air and mitigate climate change. However, the benefits of trees reach far beyond the carbon cycle.

Research by Forest research (2021) found that visits to UK woodlands boosts mental health and wellbeing. Their survey found that levels of happiness were increased when in nature and woodlands, demonstrating how taking breaks outside surrounded by trees and wildlife is good for body and mind.

Trees can lower cortisol levels which naturally decreases stress and anxiety, positively affecting our mental health. Trees are there for us, improving our quality of life in many ways and by sharing these findings, we can encourage people to utilise the green space around them to reconnect with themselves and nature. Recognising this also helps take a step in the right direction to showing our appreciation for trees and encouraging us to protect them and plant them in our green spaces. Our free tree giveaway (October 2025) is one of the important initiatives to give back to our ecosystem and ensure future generations will be able to benefit from trees as we do today.

Article by: Issy Lyons (Marketing Officer, Events and Corporate)