Leicestershire Partnership Trust planted 1,200 trees at their Glenfield Hospital site over a four-day planting period in February 2012. NHS staff took part in the planting in conjunction with staff and learning disability groups from Hill Holt Wood.
The planted trees and hedgerow species are:
- Native, mixed deciduous, medium height species: hornbeam, cherry, silver birch, wych elm and field maple
- Native, mixed deciduous, large height species: English oak, common ash, alder, beech and lime.
- Native, mixed hedgerow species: hawthorn, hazel, Scots pine, blackthorn, rowan and crab apple
Several of the trees and almost all of the hedgerow species are fruiting varieties which will help provide food for local wildlife in late summer and autumn.
In the fullness of time the hedgerow will act as a green corridor for local wildlife to move along; it also links with the adjoining Goss Meadows Nature Reserve, which protects grasses and wildflowers. On the opposite side of Anstey Lane is another small wooded area with an established badger set, and it is hoped that local badger clans will also make use of the new forest.