Volunteer

A Dream For Trees planting day is open to everyone. There’s no experience necessary and we offer guidance throughout. There’s no required fitness level either, just plant until you’d like a rest. We’ll share tree planting spades and show how to cut the soil open, plant the sapling and add the tree guard. We encourage planting in groups with shared roles for maximum efficiency.

Planting a tree does involve digging in the mud, and it makes sense to wear sturdy footwear and bring a waterproof in case of rain. Many volunteers return to plant again, bringing friends and family with them, it’s an enjoyable activity to create a haven of nature for future generations.

What to expect

Planting days run for around three to four hours, usually on weekend mornings between October and March. You’ll find the site signed with flags so you know where to go and occasionally there’s a short walk from where you park, so wear your boots from the start. Parking details come through on your Eventbrite reminder in advance.

The ground will already be prepared when you arrive. Our team walks everyone through the Miyawaki method and the planting technique before you start, so there’s no guesswork. We bring printed species lists with identification hints, useful for the curious, and popular with those who want to know exactly what they’re putting in the ground.

The work is physical but not strenuous. There’s tea and biscuits and by the time you leave, the ground looks completely different. That shift is visible, immediate, and really satisfying.

What to bring

Wear clothes you don’t mind getting muddy. Sturdy footwear is useful, wellies or walking boots work well, and since there’s sometimes a short walk to the site, put them on before you arrive. Bring a water bottle and dress for the weather, which means layers you can peel off as you warm up. Gloves are useful but we usually have spares on site.

If you’re bringing children, let us know in advance so we can make sure the day works well for them. They tend to take to planting immediately and rarely want to stop.

Tree planting techniques

We plant bare-root saplings using a method called notch planting, this is quick, effective and kind to the soil. There are three variations: V notch, L notch, and T notch. On the day we’ll show you which suits the ground you’re working with.

The technique is straightforward. Make the notch with a spade, slip the sapling in, and follow four steps: push the roots down as far as they’ll go; withdraw the spade slightly to let the roots spread naturally outward; firm the soil back with your foot to close any air pockets; check the sapling sits at the same depth it grew in the nursery. That’s it!

We bring printed instruction sheets and species ID guides, with hints on how to recognise each sapling, which turns planting into something closer to a nature lesson. By your second planting day, you’ll be showing someone else how it’s done.

If you’d like homework, there are How To pdfs below to download.

Who you’ll meet

Dream For Trees attracts people from every background – students, families, professionals, retirees, people who’ve never held a spade and people who garden every weekend. What everyone has in common is that they’ve shown up. We’ve seen friendships form on planting days, and volunteers who started knowing nobody leave as part of something. The team is small, hands-on and genuinely glad you’re there.

Wellness benefits

The evidence for nature’s effect on health is well documented and substantial. Official NHS evaluations prove that nature-based social prescribing, like tree planting, leads to statistically significant improvements in anxiety, happiness and life satisfaction. This kind of group conservation work combats loneliness and reduces social isolation as the few hours of practical activity it demands fosters strong community connections. Medical research compiled by Univerity College London shows that spending just 120 minutes a week in nature delivers a measurable boost to health and well-being.

The work itself is satisfying in a specific, physical way. The notch made cleanly, roots pushed down and spread, soil firmed back with your foot. Repetitive, grounding, and immediately rewarding. You can see what you’ve done and how it improves our natural world.

How to Plant a Tree (for Kids)

Planting a Dream For Trees sapling is very simple, and these instructions are aimed at children. Free to download, print if necessary.

Download

How to Plant a Tree (for Everyone)

Click here to view detailed planting instructions, described in words and with diagrams. Free to download and save.

Download

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Pledge land

For nearly every problem we face, Nature, with the benefit of billions of years of evolution, has already provided us with the solutions.

King Charles III, The King’s Foundation

There was something quietly powerful about the moment – people from different backgrounds coming together to place saplings of 18 species into the soil. Today, those saplings are small, but in a few decades they will stand as a forest. That long view is something I deeply admire about the work Dream For Trees is doing.

Tony Simukonde, Student, University of Sussex

We make sure that our planting method is adaptable and bespoke – there is no such thing as a perfect site, and we would always rather put trees in the ground where space permits.