Springtime boost at Glenlude

Huge thanks to two groups of volunteers from our partners - Phoenix Futures and Jamie’s Wood – who spent a couple of sunny spring days in April helping grow Glenlude’s native woodland.

^ Groups from England and Scotland make their way toward the Phoenix Forest at Glenlude, where they planted 325 new trees.

This year’s Phoenix Futures planting day saw Glenlude Manager Karen Purvis and new Conservation Officer Ellie Oakley welcome 70 people from the organisation’s support services across England and Scotland.

The UK-wide charity has been helping people overcome drug and alcohol problems for over 50 years. Its Recovery Through Nature (RTN) programme – supported by our environmental award scheme the John Muir Award – has had particularly strong results.

^ The earliest trees were planted in the Phoenix Forest in 2012 and are now producing seed.

For the past 13 years, Phoenix Futures has been planting trees at our site in the Scottish Borders to celebrate achievements throughout the organisation – and they say the resulting ‘Phoenix Forest’ very much feels part of their therapeutic community.

In late April, we were joined by teams from Derbyshire, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Glasgow, Fife and Aberdeenshire who spent an enjoyable time in the spring sunshine, adding 325 new trees to the Phoenix Forest.
^ Karen, Ellie and the Phoenix Futures team head back after a successful planting session.

Karen said: “This brings the number of trees in the Phoenix Forest to well past 2,500, since we first started planting in 2012. A huge thank you to the hardy teams that carried all the heavy kit to the planting site the day before – it goes a long way to helping the day run smoothly and enjoyable for all.”

Jamie’s Wood

A couple of weeks earlier, 15 of Jamie’s friends and family came along to plant 150 native broadleaved trees and carry out essential maintenance in Jamie’s Wood at Glenlude.

Created in memory of a passionate hiker, explorer and advocate for wild places, Jamie’s friends and family fundraised over £70,000 for the project and regularly meet at Glenlude to add to and look after the resulting thriving mixed woodland. This spring’s tasks included removing the protection from some now established alder that was planted back in 2021. 

Protective measures

All our young saplings are now protected by biodegradable orange tubes as well as a brand new stock fence.

We first started using non-plastic tree shelter guard tubes at Glenlude in 2023, when we replanted our felled larch compartments. Made from a bio-based blend that includes sugarcane, corn and starch, the tubes can be left to biodegrade over time - eventually breaking down into water and CO² through a microbiological process.

^ Our Glenlude team, Ellie and Karen, pictured by newest trees in the Phoenix Forest - protected by the biodegradable tree tubes we now use.

To ensure the tubes don’t break down too soon, Karen and Ellie ask our volunteer tree planters to install the tubes to face the prevailing wind, so that wind will pushes the tube into the stake.

And finally, our young native woodland will gain extra protection from Glenlude’s new fence that was installed at the end of 2024. The 2.5km of stock height fencing - with no barbed wire – will help keep out browsing sheep and deer.^ The new fence is pictured alongside Phoenix Forest in the midground and Jamie's Wood further up Glenlude Hill.