One woman, 5,000 trees: the inspirational grandmother quietly changing the world, one seed at a time

"What I can do is just a drop in the ocean. But an ocean is made out of lots of drops."

Spoken by Janet Willoner, this sentence captures the very essence of the inspirational woman who wants to make a difference, and what is at the heart of her mission to plant 5000 trees.

Janet, now 82, was first inspired to grow the trees and leave behind what she calls "a reasonable legacy", when watching her grandchildren and others take to the streets in climate protests.

Rather than leave it to the younger generation, Janet set about learning how to pot seeds and watch them grow during the Coronavirus lockdown, and now she’s ready to inspire others.

Speaking on BBC Woman’s Hour, the former teacher explained how her incredible mission came to be.

"I probably had 10 years of active life left," she said. "And if I could grow a few more than I'd done, say 500 a year for 10 years, I could grow 5,000 trees. And that would be a reasonable legacy."

Going from very little knowledge about trees, to learning to plant over 20 native species - including oak, hazel, rowan and the birch - Janet added, "What I would like to do is to see it spread, such that other people could take on doing something similar.

"Because what I can do is just a drop in the ocean. But an ocean is made out of lots of drops. So I don't mind if it gets known about, as long as it helps other people to get and do something similar."

Shop essentials to grow your own tree

From self-taught lessons, to having her specimens sent to the likes of Knaresborough Forest Park and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust reserves, Janet was previously interviewed about her mission when she first started back in 2021.

Acknowledging that she won’t live long enough to see her trees fully mature - her attitude towards that was, unsurprisingly, inspirational.

As she movingly and selflessly told the Yorkshire Post, "It doesn’t have to be my forest, as long as we’ve got more trees."

How and when to plant trees | RHS Gardening Masterclass: Trees Pt.2 | The RHS - YouTube

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Watching her four grandchildren take part in climate walkouts in 2019, in a movement inspired by activist Greta Thunberg, Janet told the outlet, "If children are going on climate protests in all weathers, and having to make up schoolwork afterwards, surely I can do something.

"I thought 'if I can’t plant trees, I can grow them.'"

Not really knowing where to start, Janet wasn’t deterred, and took to the internet to follow instructions.

Her house was then taken over by her mission at first - planted seeds were kept in the airing cupboard, in the fridge or even bathed in warm water depending on what each needed to germinate.

"I didn’t dare tell anyone what I was doing, I thought if they didn’t germinate I would look really silly. Come March I looked at the pots and low and behold there were little shoots coming up. I was so excited."

If Janet can teach herself something new, she hopes others will take the time to consider doing something too. "It’s something everyone can do. And if we do it, there’s a chance it can make a difference."

Are there any women inspiring you to help others? Let us know in the comments below.