A £500 donation from an anonymous benefactor has funded a tree labelling project in Bournemouth.

Around 50 different species of trees in the Central and Upper Gardens are being labelled, including Dawn Redwoods, Persian Ironwoods, Weymouth Pines and Himalayan Birches.

Walkers in the gardens will now be able to easily identify the species of tree, see both its common and botanical name and learn where it originates from.

Richard Hesketh, PR and volunteers officer for Bournemouth Parks, said: “We were in the gardens working on the tree trail leaflet and this chap walked past and said he would love to see labels on the trees. He said he would donate some money and we could give it a try.

“We’ve already spent half of it on labels and we will spend the rest soon. It’s great because we have some superb trees in the gardens from various different parts of the world.

“We hope people will enjoy spotting the labels and finding out a little bit more about them. And this is a great time to walk in the gardens because there are already some lovely autumn colours on show.”

There will also be a guided walk through the gardens on Saturday, October 20, meeting at the Cenotaph at 2.30pm.

The organisation is always on the look out for new helpers, if interested please call Richard on 01202 451605.