Although there is no doubt the long, hot summer was most enjoyable, the team have spent an awful lot of time watering both our seedlings and more mature trees.
The result is an extremely high survival rate in a testing time.
Special branch were thus able to take well over a hundred handsome looking pot-grown plants to Bentley Woodfair this September. The Marquee looked wonderful, with a fine array of seeds on display inside adding an educational element to our display.
At least 60% of visitors to our stand were interested in growing trees from seed, which was incredibly satisfying. All the volunteers found it an enjoyable and rewarding experience talking to so many members of the public. Obviously having three glorious days of sunshine helped. I can confirm that camping under a clear night sky was.....freezing!
We are now moving into the main part of our seed collecting season. Last Friday we processed over ten different varieties. These have now gone mainly into stratification boxes. The nuts, like the incredibly neat Beech nuts(pic.right), are covered with soil and kept in boxes over winter.
During this processing period most of the volunteers may be found huddled over a large table adjacent to our pond. It's a lovely place to process seeds ...and chat. The mild weather and our protected site enable us to happily sit outside in shirt-sleeves all day, only interrupted by lunch-time.
Collecting will continue apace into November, whereupon an entirely new set of tasks awaits.
From November onwards customers will collect their tree orders, effectively taking our mature stock away and making room for the new. We also start the annual tidying up/maintenance of the nursery. A busy time awaits.
During this processing period most of the volunteers may be found huddled over a large table adjacent to our pond. It's a lovely place to process seeds ...and chat. The mild weather and our protected site enable us to happily sit outside in shirt-sleeves all day, only interrupted by lunch-time.
Collecting will continue apace into November, whereupon an entirely new set of tasks awaits.
From November onwards customers will collect their tree orders, effectively taking our mature stock away and making room for the new. We also start the annual tidying up/maintenance of the nursery. A busy time awaits.
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