Hillier Trees and The Tree Musketeers Team Up to Plant and Protect Trees

Hillier Trees and The Tree Musketeers are delighted to announce the launch of a new collaboration dedicated to planting, protecting, and promoting trees in urban communities.

With over 160 years of horticultural experience, Hillier is one of the UK’s leading tree nurseries, supplying high quality trees to the landscaping industry, local authorities, and private estates. Combining traditional knowledge with cutting edge research, Hillier grows trees that thrive in a variety of environments, making it a natural partner for a grassroots organisation committed to bringing more trees into local communities.

The Tree Musketeers are a community led nursery based on the Hackney Marshes. They involve residents and volunteers in growing, planting, and maintaining trees, often in places where they might not otherwise be planted. Working closely with tree officers, park staff, local community groups, and volunteers, the group ensures that trees not only get planted but are nurtured long term.

This summer, Adam Dunnett of Hillier and Marcelo White of The Tree Musketeers met at the Hackney nursery to explore how the two organisations could work together. Their shared passion for horticulture, education, and sustainability has inspired a partnership that unites industry expertise with meaningful community impact.

Adam Dunnett, Production & Amenity Director at Hillier, said:

“When I visited the community tree nursery this summer, I was blown away by the work The Tree Musketeers have been delivering over many years in their community. Trees grown with real passion and planted and maintained by the community for the community.

Hillier Nurseries are delighted to be able to help support The Tree Musketeers team with training and advice from our skilled growers, helping the group’s volunteers produce even more and better trees and inspiring the next generation of volunteers to continue the great work already delivered. Groups like The Tree Musketeers are a vital piece of our tree planting jigsaw who need our support to create greener communities and help find the impacts of climate change.”

As part of the collaboration, teams from Hillier and The Tree Musketeers will work together at Hackney Marshes and at Hilliers tree nurseries. Hillier teams will volunteer alongside The Tree Musketeers to support local planting initiatives and gain insight into community led engagement and urban tree care. In return, volunteers from The Tree Musketeers will visit Hillier’s nurseries to learn from the production teams about propagation, tree care, and sustainable growing techniques. This two-way exchange of skills and experience will strengthen both organisations, combining Hillier’s horticultural knowledge with the creativity, enthusiasm, and local impact of The Tree Musketeers.

The partnership officially launched on Wednesday 26th November 2025, during National Tree Planting Week, with a ceremonial tree planting event bringing together teams from both organisations to mark the beginning of an inspiring partnership for seasons ahead.

The trees planted during the event were selected from Hillier’s climate resilient tree trials, developed over recent years as part of a wider research programme exploring the future range of commercially viable, UK grown trees capable of thriving in a changing climate. With The Urban Plant Lab, Hillier will be delivering a report in 2026 in which key urban tree species will be rated by future climate resilience. These findings will help shape the future nursery production, ensuring a reliable supply of resilient, UK grown trees that can flourish in our streets, parks, and housing developments, helping to create more successful and sustainable green spaces for generations to come.

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Editors notes

“To inspire the creation of green living spaces for now and the future” Hillier is one of the leading names in the horticultural industry, with 160 years of growing and retail experience.

Founded in 1864 by Edwin Hillier, the company remains a family-run nursery with the fifth generation now actively involved in the family business as it continues to grow.

Not only is Hillier the largest producer of semi-mature trees in Europe and grower of over one million plants at its Hampshire nursery, but it also employs over 750 staff across its nursery, amenity trees and 22 garden centre divisions and is a flourishing multi-million pound company. It proudly holds the world record for the most consecutive gold medals awards at the world-famous RHS Chelsea Flower Show, with 74 wins.

As one of the leading growers in the UK, Hillier is involved in many peat-free initiatives, including the RHS Peat-Free Fellowship, the largest peat-free collaborative research project globally. The company was amongst the first nurseries to become 100% peat-free across both its production nursery and retail garden centres, and all Hillier plants are grown in peat-free compost.

Recent successes for the company include the launch of its online shop, the substantial redevelopment of Hillier Garden Centre Newbury and the acquisition of the Rosebourne Garden Centre Group in November 2022, as well as sponsorship of BBC Gardeners’ World Live and BBC Gardeners’ World Spring Fair, and the incredibly popular free ‘Hillier Gardening Club’ loyalty program which now has over half a million members.

Renowned for being a leading breeder of plants in the UK at its 100% peat-free nursery in Hampshire, each year Hillier introduces amazing new varieties. Many of these have become essentials in British gardens and the company continues with the tradition of innovation and the introduction of new garden plants in the present day.