From dumpster to forest

This park wasn’t always a park.
For years, Glade Lane Canalside Park in West London was used as a dumping site for construction waste. What you see now are reshaped landfill mounds, compacted, poor in nutrients, exposed to wind and runoff. Not exactly a dream site for trees.

That’s where we came in. Together with the Mapletree team, our local partner Letting Grow, and two Life Terra colleagues, we planted native species along the slopes of these mounds. Steep inclines, low-quality soil, and fast-draining ground meant doing things properly: digging deep, adding compost to give the roots a chance, mulching with woodchips to retain moisture, slow weeds, and reduce erosion.

The goal wasn’t just to “add green.” It was to stabilise soil, improve water absorption, create shade over time, and slowly bring biodiversity back to a place that had been written off. By the end of the day, as the light dropped and the skyline came into view, the site already felt different. Still rough, still early, but moving in the right direction.

Thanks to Mapletree for backing the trees and putting in the work, and to Letting Grow for opening up a site where restoration actually matters