At British Hardwood Tree Nursery, we trust in the Tubex brand, which has proved itself year upon year. The company's standard tree tubes, are among products which encourage the establishment of young trees and also their survival.

And this year, the nursery is particularly delighted to have been retained by this world-renowned name in the fields of forestry and landscaping.

In recent months, Tubex has restructured its list of suppliers, and British Hardwood Tree Nursery is one of its only 10 UK stockists.

The Forestry Commission is aiming to help through the introduction of a new quality assurance scheme for tree planting projects which are designed to "capture" carbon.

Commission general director Tim Rollinson said the Woodland Carbon Code will encourage a consistent approach to projects, providing clarity and transparency to potential customers and investors about what their contributions should achieve.

A six-month pilot scheme is now underway to test this concept and refine the Code and related guidance, ahead of its launch early next year.

"Increasingly, people and companies are realising the valuable potential that tree planting schemes have to soak up CO2 from the atmosphere," said Mr Rollinson.

"There are many commercial schemes that encourage individuals and businesses to contribute to tree planting, to help compensate for their carbon footprint. But before investing in projects, people want to know that schemes will actually deliver what they claim.

"The Woodland Carbon Code will provide that reassurance and will encourage more investment in tree planting in the UK."

But, in order to comply with the Code, projects will have to be:

• Responsibly and sustainably managed to national standards
• Use standard methods for estimating the carbon that will be sequestered or locked up
• Be independently verified
• Meet transparent criteria and standards to ensure they produce real carbon benefits

Details of projects, including their exact location and long-term objectives, must be registered with the Forestry Commission. Once approved, they will be included in a national online register.

Whether you are looking to spend just a few thousand pounds on planting a small area of land or considering buying tens of thousands of trees for a large estate, this sector offers you lots of options, grants schemes and tax breaks.

The Confederation of Forest Industries' chief executive Stuart Goodall said: "Forestry and tree planting schemes offer really flexible investment options, but people and businesses should seek professional advice about grant schemes and associated tax benefits.

"First of all they need to define the driving force behind their potential investment. It might be the opportunity to access tax relief, or they may want to produce high quality wood for the future or even be eager to encourage further biodiversity on their land.

"The great thing about forestry, is that it offers investors real choice, due to the sheer variety of tree species, the ways in which a forest can be managed and how large the area to be planted is."

British Hardwood Tree Nursery is happy to advise farmers and landowners about grant schemes.

The latest findings from the Forestry Commission reveal that 77 per cent of the adult population headed off to walk, picnic, cycle or otherwise relax in their favourite woods last year.

That was the highest percentage recorded since 2001, and the good news is that forest areas attracted leisure seekers of all ages.

The age group most represented among forest visitors was the 35 - 54-year-olds, 84 per cent of whom visited a woodland in 2009

If that's because they're the ones with young families to keep occupied, it's good to see members of the younger generation being introduce early to the pleasures and benefits of trees and woodland.

Forestry Commission findings for a United Nations' Food & Agriculture Organisation report show that nearly 11,200 square miles of the UK's land, or around 12 per cent, is covered with trees.

The gradual replenishing of the UK's woodland is gathering pace, after long periods when forests were removed for agricultural purposes and to provide wood for industries such as shipbuilding and, at one time, charcoal for wartime gunpowder.

But, despite the improvement, the UK still lags behind many of its continental cousins - the average woodland cover for Europe as a whole is 44 per cent.

Experts say that the trend towards planting trees is being boosted by environmentally-conscious families and people who see trees as a sound financial investment, offering them tax breaks.

1. Privacy

Trees are fantastic for screening off unsightly buildings and reducing noise. Hedges help to divide fields and provide shelter. Try blackthorn and hawthorn.

2. Improve Farm Productivity

Planting trees boosts your conservation profile and creates wildlife habits and game cover. It also provides you with a sustainable source of wood fuel, giving you an alternative to fossil fuels.

3. Water Management

Dense groups of trees and shrubs can form a barrier to moving floodwater and they are better than grassland when it comes to reducing the flood's peak. Trees also help to cut the amount of pollution which reaches rivers, thanks to absorbing pollutants as they grow.

4. Shape Our Future Landscape

Plant some trees today and watch them start shooting up. It takes 12 years or so before they start making their mark, but the could be around for hundreds of years to come.

5. Cool Characters

Landscapers can use trees to reduce the "urban heat island effect", where towns and cities are actually hotter than the surrounding countryside. So you see - they're not just good to look at!

26th November 2011 - 4th December 2011

More and more organisations and individuals are realising that there are so many good reasons to plant trees for the future.

These "green lungs" not only add interesting new dimensions to the landscape - whether urban or rural – but they also improve air quality, create shade, increase biodiversity, reduce the effects of flash floods and more!

National Tree Week, which is masterminded by The Tree Council, runs from November 26 to December 4th, and provides an ideal opportunity for everyone from community groups to landowners to discover the true benefits of planting a variety of species.

Apart from being the UK’s major annual tree celebration, this time of year also heralds the start of the winter tree planting season.

That means now is the time to take action and respond to the National Tree Council's call to help redress the ongoing loss of trees, which may have disappeared for any number of reasons, from the impact of diseases, drought or new developments.

Tackling this issue now is vital if future generations are to enjoy the wellbeing benefits offered by a healthy green environment.

The Tree Council's member organisations, which include voluntary bodies, schools and community groups, along with its 8,000 tree wardens, typically mark National Tree Week by setting-up fun events.

These are designed to encourage thousands of people to get together and plant in the regional of a million trees.

Any groups looking for ideas for their own 2011 projects can find out more by visiting the National Tree Council's website, at http://www.treecouncil.org.uk where they can also register their events.

This Diamond Wood will act as a “national symbol” which encourages more people to discover the beauty of the natural world, as well as an area where wildlife can thrive.

The Trust has launched a £3.3 million fundraising appeal to acquire the site in the heart of The National Forest in Leicestershire.

This project is poised to form the highpoint of the Trust’s biggest tree planting campaign ever - Jubilee Woods - which will mark this historic milestone by the planting of six million trees to create hundreds of new woods across the UK. Communities across the UK are being urged to come together to get planting new woodlands and farmers and landowners are being encouraged to show the way.

Selected landowners have the chance to help the Trust to achieve its vision to create 60 Diamond Woods, each ideally at least 60 acres in size, which will highlight the diverse value of woodlands for the purposes of everything from art, to fuel, flood prevention and recreation.

Woodland Trust chief executive Sue Holden said the organisation needs help to create a living legacy for the nation.

"It's a chance to celebrate the reign of one of our best-loved and longest-reigning monarchs, whilst educating people about the need to increase woodland cover in the UK", she said.

For more information visit: www.woodlandtrust.org.uk.

Woldmarsh works on behalf of its members to procure goods and services at preferential prices and their preferred supplier list is made available to members and openly promotes the best suppliers in the marketplace for agricultural sundries.

Woldmarsh employ a specialist buying team which has an annual turnover in excess of £77 million. Farming over 650,000 acres, Woldmarsh members stretch from North Yorkshire to South Lincolnshire, Midlands and the Isle of Man.

For further information regarding Woldmarsh, please visit http://www.woldmarsh.com.

We are pleased to announce that we have recently dispatched our first Jubilee woodland pack, comprising 22,500 plants with Tubex tree protection and spiral guards.

The plants, which include a mixture of Ash, Sweet Chestnut, Sessile Oak, Hawthorn, Blackthorn, Field Maple, Crab Apple, Spindleberry and Common Dogwood, are to be planted by an estate in Bedfordshire to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, which signifies 60 years on the throne.

The plants are accompanied by nearly 18,000 1.2m Tubex tree tubes to stave off damage from deer, and 5,000 spiral guards, providing protection against rabbits whilst giving plants the ideal microclimate to stimulate growth.

British Hardwood Tree Nursery recently supplied a total of 46,500 trees to South Wales, as part of the Glastir Woodland Creation grant scheme, which is organised by Forestry Commission Wales.

The new woodland creation grant scheme is available to all landowners across Wales with more than 0.25 hectares of land, providing the land is deemed suitable for new planting by Forestry Commission Wales and conservation bodies, and that there is no conflict with other agri-environmental schemes.

Of the 46,500 trees provided by British Hardwood Tree Nursery, 23,000 were Oak and 10,000 were Beech, with the remaining 13,500 made up of a mix of native broadleaves.

Further information regarding the Glastir Woodland Creation scheme can be found via the Forestry Commission web site: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/forestry/infd-6j2gxd.