Tree Planting Post

For three days last week I was tasked with amenity Tree planting around Hatfield, mainly on verges in neighbourhoods. In addition to the method listed in the journal below I also had to do some map reading, which doesn't come up too often, when looking where to plant Trees.

The planting itself was fairly straightforward all week with barely any complications. That being said, we dug a hole in the wrong place once and had to refill it and then we also had residents come out and complain multiple times about not being asked about the trees first or them, being planted without their knowledge. We apologised each time they would come and ask but the council of Welwyn and Hatfield was not obliged to inform these residents in any way and we are just contractors on their behalf after all. Below is a journal entry that describes the method we used and some pictures.

Journal Entry - 06-01-2026:

Today I planted six trees in neighbourhoods around Hatfield. The process was slightly different than at Panshanger as in we planted the stakes before the tree in the interest of getting them more uniform and lined up. The process was fairly simple for each one:

1. Cut out a square around the marked location for the Tree after a Cat and Jenny(?) Scan. 2. Lift up the top layer of soil (which is very tough in the winter) with a bar and shovel 3. Dig until you reach the trees fill-line, placing all the soil on a board in one pile 4. Use the bar to ready holes for the two stakes 5. Knock the stakes in with a post knocker 6. Place in the tree 7. Put a layer of special nutrient-rich soil and the original soil back in around the hole, while stamping it to remove excess air pockets. 8. Add a strimmer guard to the tree base and a layer of mulch 9. Put a tie around the tree from each post to secure the tree Pat and Chris gave me some good tips in regards to presentation as well: 1. Try and use the corners of nearby buildings to straighten up stakes 2. Always tie the tree to the farthest stake first to centre it better.













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