Sarah and Arthur have lived in the Hornsey area of Haringey for about 5 years, and chose to move to this neighbourhood after consulting a pollution map – because it’s one of the least polluted parts of London.
The couple run an online shop called Foundland, which sells unique gifts and homewares ethically sourced from all over the world.
They were approached about the Haringey Trees for Streets scheme by the local council, and wanted to sponsor a new tree to be planted outside their house, partly because they love trees, but also to improve the kerb appeal of their property.
Sarah says “All the other houses at our end of the street have trees in front, which look really good, so we wanted one outside our house too. It seemed an obvious thing to do, so we were delighted to hear about this scheme.”
During the pandemic Arthur decided to build a bin store with a green roof in the front garden.
Building the bin store gave me the chance to see and speak to lots of our neighbours who stopped to chat as I was doing my DIY. That made us realise that we want to spend more time in the street to connect with people in the neighbourhood.
Arthur
Arthur and Sarah have opted to water their sponsored tree after it is planted, so will get plenty of opportunities to talk to neighbours and passers-by every time they give their tree a drink. New street trees need regular watering in their first 3 summers of life on the street – it takes up to 50 litres of water every week in dry weather to keep a tree healthy, and is a really important part of making sure street trees establish in their new home.
Sarah and Arthur’s tree should be planted by the Spring- What a lovely gift for them and their neighbours, it will grace the street for many decades to come.
