Our Day Tree Planting

On an unseasonably bright and sunny Tuesday in February, Ciarán, Jane, Gemma, Danny, and I headed into the foothills of the Dublin mountains to plant trees. After a grey but mild winter spent mainly indoors, we emerged blinking into the world on the sort of day when the sun seeps deep into your bones and reminds you that life is stirring under the soil once more.

Why were we there?

We had been borrowed for the morning to plant trees beside Killinarden's Sacred Heart football club grounds. Killinarden is in Tallaght, to the South West of county Dublin. Primarily agricultural land in the 18th and 19th centuries, the region was earmarked for housing by Dublin Corporation in the 1970s.

As the ground starts to rise here, windbreaks are essential. To this end, Ó'Cualann Cohousing Alliance together with Trees On The Land are aiming to plant 10,000 native species. The hope is these trees will flourish, providing much-needed shelter to the residents in the area as well as establishing biodiversity corridors for local flora and fauna.

Drive up a bumpy path that you might easily miss from the main road, and you reach the planting ground. Clamber over some ditches, using your spade as leverage, and you will find yourself at the back of the football pitches, on land primarily left to its own devices. Grasses, nettles, gorse, hedgerows, all looking out over the city to the sea and basking in the spring sunshine. With three bags of seedlings to plant - Alder, Birch, and Scots pine - we spread out along the southwest edge and got to work.

Getting to work

As it turns out, seedlings are somewhat underwhelming at first glance, and it needs genuine care not to step on those planted by your companions. When settled in the earth, they look a little like sticks, and only Scots pine, with its green tufts of needles, is properly noticeable as you move around. On the other hand, the advantage of seedlings is that they do not require the digging of large holes. Instead, as we were shown, a simple T-shaped cut with a spade is sufficient; it allows their roots to be tucked in gently before the ground is tamped closed around them with a carefully administered boot. This means that, in theory, many seedlings can be planted relatively quickly. When five people are given three bags containing a hundred seedlings in each, this becomes much more important! In the interests of transparency, we didn't manage to empty any of the bags completely, but we had a lovely time trying.

Gemma, Danny, and I are self-avowedly not gardeners. Gemma swears blind she can kill plants just by being in the same room as them. I am a fan of leafy houseplants and have attempted to prove Gemma wrong in her assertion by bringing some into work - the majority are still alive! We all agreed, though, that there is a definite magic and joy to be found in getting muddy and planting these little promises for the future.

Stopping for some excellent coffee and treats before heading back to work in the afternoon, we had the kind of giddiness and exhilaration that only ever seems to result from being outside in nature. Here's to many more trees planted in Ireland!

Watch More on Our Day Out

If you've enjoyed this reflection on the day, checkout the short video for more behind the scenes.