Council collaboration brings mini forest to Chichester College  

Chichester District Council has recently launched a new ‘Trees Outside Woodland’ trial on the grounds of Chichester College. 

Funded through HM Government’s Trees Outside Woodland Programme, a total of 462 trees have been planted as part of a Miyawaki Mini-Forest trial with a purpose to benefit residents and wildlife throughout local cities. 

These Miyawaki trials fall within the programme’s Urban Tree Establishment pilot, which is testing how better planning and care of trees in towns and cities can improve their health and expand urban tree cover. 

The Miyawaki Method, created in the 1970s by Japanese botanist, Dr Akira Miyawaki, is the process of densely planting different native tree species, into aerated soil treated with suitable biological amendments and mycorrhizal fungi, mulched, and maintained for the first one to two years. 

Michael Pierce, CDC’s Trees Outside Woodland Project Officer, said: “We are thrilled to have planted a total of 26 native and naturalised broadleaf varieties of trees here at Chichester College. 

“Half of the trees comprise of four main species including Horse Chestnut, Pedunculate/English Oak, Small-leaved Lime, and Crab Apple. 

“The college trial is specifically testing the effects that mulching has on tree establishment and we are excited to check in regularly on this innovative trial as it establishes over the next year.” 

The Estates Team at Chichester College, Michael, and other council members will now be monitoring the progress of the project and the individual growth of each plot. 

Helen Loftus, Principal of Chichester College, said: “This is such an exciting collaboration between our college and our local council. 

“As a college, we are dedicated to the sustainability and environmental health of our grounds and this forest trial is a perfect example of ways we can improve on this. 

“We would like to thank Michael and his team for not only planting all these trees, but also educating our college community and local residents on the background of the experiment.” 

For further information on the forest trial, visit Chichester District Council – Chichester District Council