Trees

Crawley is home to many beautiful, rare and unusual trees; some of which are the biggest in the UK.

The list below points you in the right direction of where you can find useful information about trees on our website.

Champion trees

Tilgate Park is home to seven ‘champion trees’. Champion trees are officially the tallest, oldest or widest of their species in the UK and are recorded on the national tree register . Please click on the link below to find out more about Crawley’s champions.

• Tilgate Park’s Champion Trees

Heritage trees

As well as champion trees Crawley has many trees of historical significance. In honour of this we have launched The Heritage Trees project to capture this information so that its available for future generations. To find out more about Crawley’s historical trees and the Heritage Tree Project please follow the link below:

• Heritage Trees

Report a tree

If you have identified a problem with a tree please report it to us by filling out an e-form.

• Report a problem e-form

Tree Preservation Orders

There are a number of trees throughout the town that are protected by a Tree Preservation Order (TPO). The order makes it an offence to cut down, uproot, prune, damage or destroy the tree or trees in question.

If you do work to a protected tree without permission you are committing an offence and could be subject to a heavy fine, up to £20,000 for destroying a tree and up to £2,500 for anyone who does not completely destroy a tree but has carried out some other works without consent.

• Tree Preservation Orders

Tree Wardens

The tree warden scheme has been operating in West Sussex for the last ten years. A typical tree warden is by no means an expert, but are usually people who care for trees and are interested in their immediate environment.

Tree wardens work in conjunction with their local councils, on a voluntary basis keeping an eye on their local trees. Each tree warden receives an action pack when they start off, and there is also a training programme covering all aspects of trees, from the planting of saplings to the folklore of ancient specimens.

If you would like more information, you can visit the Tree Council website , or request a leaflet from: The Tree Council, 71 Newcomen Street, London, SE1 1YT, tel: 0207 407 9992. Or you can email them at: .

Caterpillars

Brown tail moth caterpillars, which are most commonly found in the spring, have small hairs all over their bodies which can break off and can cause an allergic irritation and/or asthmatic reaction. To find out more about these caterpillars and how to dispose of them, please download our information leaflet.

• Brown tail moth caterpillars information leaflet

Links

tree council - promotes planting and conservation of trees in the UK

tree register - record of notable and ancient trees in Britain and Ireland

woodland trust - conservation charity, protecting woodland heritage