Grants to support the establishment of thousands of trees, orchards and hedgerows on streets, in parks, and in community and educational spaces across the UK, are now available through The Tree Council – including the introduction of a new £1m grant pot, funded by Defra. 

The Tree Council, the national charity working together for the love of trees, offers a range of funding and free tree options to support planting projects; helping to bring greater biodiversity, improved air quality, reduced risk of flooding, and deliver significant environmental enhancement to grant recipients and their communities, from the north of Scotland to the tip of England, in Wales, and Northern Ireland. 

And now, a new £1m Trees Outside Woodland Fund is available in England, offering grants of up to £40,000 for local authorities and larger charities to grow trees on land that is publicly accessible, or of benefit to the public. 

Aiming to support the establishment of tens of thousands of trees, the new Trees Outside Woodland Fund is open for planting projects across the 2025/26 season in England. Successful applicants must use biosecure stock and all projects must be completed by March 2026.

The new fund joins four existing grant opportunities available through The Tree Council, working with partners at Network Rail, SP Energy Networks (SPEN), and National Highways, as well as The Tree Council’s own Branching Out programme. 

The Network Rail Community Planting Fund is available for planting projects in England, Scotland and Wales, providing grants between £2,500 and £10,000. Successful applicants must show clear community benefit and involvement, and the planting must take place on publicly accessible land. 

The Tree Council’s partnership with SPEN is for projects in Scotland only, providing grant funding of between £2,500 and £10,000 to communities for the establishment of trees outside woodland. 

National Highways’ Three Million Trees programme is a partnership with National Highways, The Tree Council and Greenwood Plants. Unlike the other funding opportunities, this programme provides free UK grown trees – with applications invited for projects seeking to establish between 2,500 and 50,000 trees, in England only. 

The Tree Council’s successful and long running Branching Out fund is also now open for applications for planting projects throughout the UK, valued between £250 and £2,500.  

The Tree Council CEO, Sara Lom added: “We all know how important trees are to our communities and how community planting projects bring people together with a sense of shared ownership, learning and care. 

“Submit your applications as early as you can, and together we can help deliver the joy of trees to more neighbourhoods.” 

All grant options are accompanied by expert advice and support from The Tree Council, from application, to planting, to ensuring the trees are able to establish successfully.