We are now 3 months into Cefn Garthenor’s new, and very exciting project… A new Native Tree Nursery!
It’s probably time for me to introduce myself. I am Jess, the horticulturalist who has been entrusted with the task of growing trees at Cefn Garthenor. Just a tiny little insight into my background … I am trained in both Wildlife Conservation and Regenerative Agriculture. I gained experience working in a Tree Nursery in the rainforests of Borneo but began my career as an entomologist (bug-ology), where I quickly discovered that changing the way we farm and increasing plant biodiversity is the most effective way to conserve insects… which has led me here, to Cefn Garthenor.
Now back to the project! Exciting things have been happening, a detailed species map has been made of all the trees and hedgerows on site ready for Autumn when our first seed collections will begin. It's incredibly important to source seeds locally for genetics and tolerance to the (more so this year than normal) cold and wet Welsh weather.
I’ve been busy researching how to grow trees from seed and visiting Tree Nurseries for inspiration and advice. This is probably a good time for me to recommend the most helpful book I’ve found so far on growing trees - it's also free. Follow the link…
The race to beat the squirrels to the Hazelnut harvest has already begun - 4 Kg have already been collected from Cefn Garthenor, and a few other local spots and are ready to be processed for seed!!
How we harvest, prepare and propagate the hazelnuts: Using a trusty stick with a hook screwed into the end I am able to collect the hazelnuts out of my reach. I’ve picked the hazelnuts from the trees, while they are still green, but easily removed from the husk (leafy outer stem). This ensures the seeds will be viable, but also gives us the opportunity to get to them before the squirrels! Once picked the nuts have been spread out on seed trays where they will continue to ripen off the tree as the outer shell hardens and turns brown. We have been keeping a close eye on the picked hazelnuts to ensure we haven’t replaced the squirrel damage risk with that of mice, and are waiting for the delivery of a large quantity of Rat Mesh to keep our precious seeds safe. Once the seed has ripened they are ready to go out into our stratification troughs, where they will remain until they are big enough to plant out into our bare-root beds.
A rough plan of the tree nursery has been drawn up to help visualise a smooth workflow on site ... we have a couple more fields to grow into.
The boxes are beginning to pile up, stocked full of new equipment needed to start the new adventure. Most of which are waiting to go in the new HUGE polytunnel which has now been delivered and is ready to be installed! Robert has cut the grass in readiness and the date has been arranged for the installation in a week's time, so we are keeping our fingers crossed the weather holds up.
We will be selling trees as 1, 2 and 3 year old whips, available as both bareroot and container grown trees. It will likely be a few years before they will be available to purchase, but I am working on it! Our first batch of trees (not accounting for any potential disasters) will hopefully be available to purchase from Autumn 2026 onwards, with delivery between Nov 2026 - Feb 2027.
Species which will be available - all of Seed Zone 303 Provenance.
Hawthorn: Grown from seed
Blackthorn: Grown from seed/softwood cutting
Hazel: Grown from seed
Rowan: Grown from seed
Sessile Oak: Grown from seed
Pedunculate Oak: Grown from seed
Silver Birch: Grown from seed
Downy Birch: Grown from seed
Holly: Grown from seed
Elder: Grown from seed
Dog Rose: Grown from seed
Common Alder: Grown from seed
Wych Elm: Grown from root cuttings
Aspen: Grown from root cuttings
White Willow: Grown from cuttings
Grey Willow: Grown from cuttings
Goat Willow: Grown from cuttings
Biomass Willow: Grown from cuttings
We are also hoping to sell Welsh Wild Service Trees or Chequers Tree (Sorbus torminalis) and making the long-term investment to plant Wild Service trees for future seed … so in the meantime, I have been off on adventures to find an already established local Wild Service Tree for a seed source. Wild Service trees are now considered rare in the UK, the few we have left remain hidden in small pockets of ancient woodland making them a good ancient woodland indicator species. Their fruits in the past were used to flavour alcoholic drinks and inspired the name of many pubs around the UK, e.g. ’The Chequers Inn’.
In addition, we are looking into potentially selling timber trees such as Sweet Chestnut, Coastal Redwoods and Robinia Pseudoacaia. Although not native to the UK these trees are considered suitable replacements to trees typically used in UK forestry which are now being impacted by disease and climate change. No firm decision on this yet … open to debate!
If you want to find out more about the project or get involved, please get in contact, emailing CefnGarthenor@outlook.com! Volunteers for seed collecting/processing will always be welcome.
Comentarios