Merton Council has pledged to significantly boost its green credentials by planting an additional 1,000 street trees across the borough in the coming year. This initiative aims to increase tree cover in the Borough, supporting Merton's Tree Strategy goal of a 10% increase by 2050.
The commitment was revealed during a Council meeting on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, in response to a public question about increasing street tree cover and addressing the backlog of unfilled tree pits.
The Cabinet Member for Civic Pride and Climate Change responded that the council is dedicated to filling vacant tree pits and enhancing the borough's green spaces. The planting is scheduled to commence in October 2025 and be completed by March 2026, prioritising areas with the fewest existing trees. Residents can search, using their postcode, to find out if trees are being planted in a street near them by visiting: merton.gov.uk/fourpledges/streettrees.
As part of our commitment to making Merton a cleaner, greener, safer borough for everyone, we are committed to filling those vacant tree pits,
the Cabinet Member stated. We already have an extensive tree planting programme, and during 2024/25 we planted 530 trees in empty pits. In March we made a pledge to plant 1000 extra street trees over the next year to make our neighbourhoods greener.
The council currently manages more than 18,000 trees in streets across the borough.
Residents can track tree planting progress in their neighbourhoods via a postcode search on the council's website.