A company with a track-record of delivering urban tree planting projects all over the world has been appointed to deliver specialist tree planting within the £11.7m Queens Gardens redevelopment.
Founded in 1992, GreenBlue Urban was set up to research and provide solutions for assisting trees and helping them become established in urban spaces.
Councillor Daren Hale, leader of Hull City Council and portfolio holder for regeneration, said: “The tree planting is a hugely important component of the Queens Gardens project.
“The improvement in variety, foliage and layout is vital in creating the outstanding urban green space that we will all soon be able to enjoy.
“We know how important it is to get tree planting right. The current perimeter of the park has suffered and has been damaged due to trees that were not planted correctly, or were planted without consideration for how they would grow and develop; this has damaged not only the trees, but also boundary walls.
“By bringing on board a company with such an exceptional track-record in delivering and planting trees in urban spaces, we will avoid making the mistakes of the past and can be confident that we are delivering an exciting project for both the short and the long-term future of the city.”
GreenBlue Urban is the UK’s market leader in specialist tree pit products. The company will supply and install 13 urban tree pit systems within the Queens Gardens redevelopment. These systems will be located on the northern and southern edges of the development and will prevent trees from damaging the new perimeter and boundary walls of the park.
A wide variety of trees will be planted elsewhere in the gardens, and the wider city centre, as part of the Queens Gardens redevelopment.
The first stage of works will see the planting of the first Metasequoia tree – a species of conifer known as redwoods. Metasequoia trees are fast-growing and can grow to 30 metres in height.
The tree is one of the dozens of trees, of various size and majority, that will be planted during the project.
Some of the trees within the planting scheme are on the endangered species list.
The first stage of the £11.7m Queens Gardens redevelopment has begun and is expected to be completed in June 2022. The second and final phase of the works will begin this summer, with completion expected at the end of 2023.
The Queens Gardens refurbishment is an integral part of the Hull: Yorkshire’s Maritime City project as it will link the Hull Maritime Museum to the North End Shipyard – which will be the new home of the historic Arctic Corsair. The shipyard is being transformed into a new visitor attraction, which will tell its rich story for the first time.
