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A nine-year-old boy has replanted a pine sapling in Coronation Park where the pinecone originated – to help the park recover from the damage caused by Storm Ciarán.
The pine sapling was planted next to its parent tree which was a 90-year-old pine that was topped during the storm in November.
Thomas and his grandmother, Dilys Maletroit, were frequent visitors to Coronation Park.
Pictured: Thomas and the sapling in his garden back in November (left) and the sapling being replanted in the park over the weekend (right).
Five years ago, during one of their visits, Thomas took home a pinecone he found beneath the big old pine tree.
He left the pinecone outside in his garden and it eventually germinated and grew into a sapling.
After hearing that half of the park's trees were either lost or damaged in the storm, Thomas and Dilys came up with a plan to take the 2-foot-tall pine sapling back to its roots.
Pictured: Dilys shared her idea on the 'Jersey Ask? Advise! Advertise!' Facebook group back in November and was meant with a positive response from islanders.
Dilys contacted the Government's Parks and Gardens team in November to arrange the sapling's replanting.
The team welcomed the offer and scheduled the planting for February during the prime season.
The sapling was planted on Saturday, with Thomas saying: “It is wonderful to see the sapling being planted back in the park. I was shocked to see the number of trees down.”
“It was a very memorable experience as the park was special to me and my Nana. I will never forget this moment.”
“I hope it encourages others around the island to contribute to any other tree-planting efforts.
There have been many memorable trees around the island which have fallen.”
Pictured: Thomas and his family replanting the sapling at the park.
Dilys added: “I am thankful that my grandson wanted to take the pine cone home and a seed germinated from it so that he could nurture it and see it grow from the very beginning.
“The pine cone was from the parent tree which was lost in storm Ciarán and this sapling is now planted next to where it once stood.
“The parent tree was one of the original trees planted in the park so this plant will provide continuity with the history of the park.
“I am very proud of my grandson to be able to contribute in a small way to support the replanting of the trees in Coronation Park and it was great to have my family with me to be a part of this special occasion.
“I am hoping that this will be a meaningful start to restoring the trees in the park and that children can be encouraged to be like Thomas and take part in growing more trees for the future of the park.”
Pictured: Bruce Labey in Howard Davis Park. (James Jeune)
Senior Operations Manager, Bruce Labey said: "I was delighted with the offer as we have lost so many trees in Coronation Park... I can’t think of a better way to start the renewal process.
"Coronation Park suffered some serious losses of very large trees, many planted after the Great Storm of ‘87 but some from the original 1935 plantings as well – big trees!"
He added: “The pine cone that the seed came from was found under that tree and so we are particularly delighted to be able to be able to continue the family line courtesy of a wonderful bit of synchronicity.”
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