Collecting Seeds for Future Trees

Autumn is traditionally the time of year to gather seeds, and once again this year, The Tree Council is encouraging everyone to join them in collecting seeds, fruits and nuts.

Shrewsbury Town Council’s Countryside and Greenspace Team has been busy collecting seeds to enable the council to provide tree stock in the county for the future.

The collected seeds will be planted in pots in the Council’s greenhouse to germinate and develop before being moved to their tree nursery and eventually planted out in the county.

Jim Goldsmith, countryside and greenspace manager for the Town Council, said: “The team has chosen seeds from some of the large trees on our site, especially at the Rea Brook Local Nature Reserve. These well-established trees have already proven that they are resilient to the local climatic conditions in Shrewsbury, such as those from a 450-year-old English oak tree there.

“Although this is only a small-scale trial, seed gathering using local provenance seed, is a more sustainable way of tree planting than buying mass-produced whips. It also reduces the pest and disease risk from imported seeds, saplings and trees.”

The Royal Horticultural Society recommends that whilst many tree and shrub seeds can be sown in spring after storage over winter, other must be sown fresh in the autumn, as they can become difficult to germinate if they are not fresh.

Sowing in autumn allows the natural winter chilling effect to help break the seed dormancy.

ENDS/

Published: 28 September 2022