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Comment by crispsquirrel | Hacker News Reader

I really want to start planting trees because this planet needs more trees, it's not a joke or some hippy movement, the consequences are real. I just feel like doing so in the UK is a bureaucratic nightmare. Plus buying trees to plant isn't cheap.

I might just start saving up for land and planting trees there if I can.

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> I just feel like doing so in the UK is a bureaucratic nightmare.

The way I see it, "making it easier to plant trees" is also an excellent action you can take, that can have even more of a positive impact than what a single person can achieve in terms of simply planting trees.

So if it's hard to do in the UK, you may find your time to be better spent making it easier for others (and yourself) to plant trees. And if you're on HN, you are like to have an entrepreneurial spirit; maybe you'll be tempted to start a charity or startup in the space.

Good luck :)

Save up money to buy a farm and grow trees and other plants that you can farm and sell their produce.

Or create a nursery so that others can buy trees from you and you help speed up the growing process and success rate.

Trees can grow from seed. Johnny Appleseed was an American myth about a man who planted thousands of apple trees by hand using pips as he walked across the country. Seeds can be extremely low cost.

Acorns and conkers can be gathered in their thousands each day in the British autumn.

He's not a myth, he was a real person. Some mythology has been built around him, but he really existed and was quite a character.

Can you please shed more light on why planting trees in UK is a bureaucratic nightmare?

Plating trees in your garden is always a recipe for future disputes with your neighbours, as petty as it sounds people get really uppity about keeping your shrubbery out of their view and boundaries. But that also depends where you live, I've seen a lot of trees cut down in my city over the past few years because they are a "nuisance". It's more likely that the city council just gave up on keeping them maintained or gave in on 1 or 2 complaints. Some of these trees were oaks that were most likely hundreds of years old and this is in public parks not close to any properties.

They are also trimmed down which is not as bad but not really helping the problem mentioned. Again these trees were hundreds of years old.

https://i2-prod.leicestermercury.co.uk/incoming/article16420...

Planting trees in public spaces seems like a recipe for the council just taking them down. I'm not sure if it's even allowed by law.

Seeking permission from land owners would be a pain. For one they could just say no, which is fair because it's their land. But how do you go about finding out who they are in the first place?

a lot of plants can be propagated from twigs, you don't need to buy more

I’ve found that rooting hormone vastly increases the number that do well. I’ve also been told but have not tried, that you can make a DIY rooting hormone by soaking green willow twigs in water than adding your cuttings.

yes, that is what is recommended for grafting too

Seeds are better. More genetic biodiversity.

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