Xanthe Mosley
Xanthe Mosley - Co-Founder; Founding Chair and Trustee since 2012
Xanthe Mosley is Chair, and unofficial CEO, of Street Trees for Living but really a country person. She was born in Oxfordshire and lived for most of her adult life in Devon. Around ten years ago she moved to Lewisham to be closer to her family.
She has been planting trees for as long as she can remember. She has a clear memory of Dutch Elm disease and the shock it caused her aged seventeen as swathes of elms were lost round her home. It set off a life-long tree-planting habit. For many years in Devon, she planted literally thousands. Moving to Lewisham didn't stop her, though it was difficult at first, adapting to local constraints. “Suddenly I couldn’t do it on my own. I needed to work with fund-raisers, planting contractors, council officers, and an army of wonderful volunteers - eventually a board of trustees. It has been a whole new world.”
As she built up STfL with this “army” her style has been relaxed, accessible and energetic. She is not a remote figure. “I love being the go-to person who can offer help and answers. I also love pitching in with practical tasks”. At school she learned to drive tractors. She is still extremely happy behind a wheel, which has been lucky for Lewisham, where many newly planted street trees only survived because of her relentless visits by car, carrying water.
Xanthe trained and has always worked as a painter. She is a natural and obsessive draughtswoman. Her work now focuses on trees and can be seen online here. Her passion results in unpredictable enthusiasms. She says “I always have a favourite tree on the go. Right now, it’s Persian Ironwood. Its autumn colours have an amazing range. More than any other tree I know.”
I ask Xanthe what she feels about her work for Street Trees for Living. “I know I'm very lucky to be able to do it, and it's great working with hundreds of people creating a legacy. But it’s not a legacy unless the trees last. My big interest now is not just planting them but helping trees to survive.”