New woodland planted by builders merchants with 175 trees representing each year in business

Rupert Green and Henry Green holding a commemorative plaque, together with members of the Green family and Covers staff who planted trees at Selhurst Park near Chichester

Covers Timber and Builders Merchants marked its 175th anniversary, and the Queen’s Green Canopy initiative, by planting 175 beech trees at Selhurst Park near Chichester.

The trees were provided by Maelor Forest Nurseries and planted in November by Tilhill, members of BSW Group – a leading Covers supplier – and Covers staff. The new woodland has been created at Monarch’s Way, as it crosses from the A285 to Selhurst Park Road, enhancing the public footpath and the South Downs landscape.

Planting beech trees near Goodwood is particularly apt for the Green family, who have been running Covers since the 1940s. The family’s forestry business, which began operating in Sussex in the 1930s, harvested trees from the Goodwood Estate and ran the timber mill at Charlton.

Members of the Green family – the oldest being Richard, aged 84, and the youngest Hamish, who hasn’t yet turned 1 – were joined by directors and staff from Covers’ Chichester and Burgess Hill depots to plant the trees. The tree planters toasted the new woodland with Gusbourne sparkling wine, which is grown nearby.

Rupert Green, chairman of Covers, said: “Timber is at the heart of Covers Timber and Builders Merchants. All the wood we procure is from sustainable sources, so every tree used is replaced. The carbon dioxide stays locked up in the timber for as long as the building it has been used to create remains standing.

“This woodland will provide a very tangible memory of Covers’ 175th anniversary to go with our personal memories of the events we have enjoyed with our staff, customers, and suppliers over the last year.”

Henry Green, Covers’ managing director, organised the burial of a 175th anniversary memory box which included mementoes of Covers’ year of celebrations. He added: “We are fortunate to have had a lovely day to gather as a team and plant this wood together. We look forward to seeing it, and Covers, grow in this century and the next.”

The Queen's Green Canopy is a unique, UK-wide tree planting initiative created to mark the late Majesty's Platinum Jubilee in 2022. It invited people to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’. The initiative has been extended to March 2023 to allow people to plant trees in her honour.