These kids from a Greenwich school have come up with a clever way to save 400-year-old trees in Greenwich Park.

The park’s old sweet chestnut trees, some of which were planted as far back as 1600, have started contracting a slow debilitating disease which will eventually kill them.

Year 7 children from The John Roan School have vowed to save the ancient trees with some clever methods to stop the rot.

The sweet chestnut ink disease blocks the tiny roots of the trees which are used to absorb moisture so it can stay alive.

The green-fingered children have been spreading woodchip mulch under the trees which helps stimulate the soil and increase the beneficial micro-organisms and fungi which help combat the disease.

Elliot Duncan, teaching assistant for the Year 7 students at John Roan, said: “Michael Loughnane, who is the assistant park manager and responsible for overseeing the project, has even suggested another project involving our students planting bulbs and seeds as part of the park’s planting scheme in the flower garden.

“We would have a plaque to identify which flower bed was planted by our students. I feel this would be a unique and symbolic gesture; as we would plant these flowers as bulbs and seeds in Year 7. As we grow through the years at John Roan, so too would our flowers.”