Germination

It is autumn here and the seeds and leaves are beginning to fall. This year I am enjoying harvesting both. The leaves are usually removed by the council so it is good to go and gather their goodness in black bin liners, tie them up and leave them for a year and they are a wonderful rich compost.

To germinate beech seeds remove from the seed case ( above) there are usually 4 nuts inside. The germination rate for beech is approximately sixty percent. Place these in a zip lock bag in the fridge for a couple of weeks and then plant. 

Acorns have an eighty percent germination rate, remove the 'hat' again I have placed mine in the fridge in a zip-lock bag for a couple of weeks before planting in a four inch pot with potting compost and then a layer of sand. 

There is one old walnut tree near me and I would love to get this little walnut to sprout.

Please gather and plant.

Humans cut down over 15 billion trees every year, this is unsustainable as people who use wood we need to counteract this damage and work to replenish the forests and protect the tree diversity and stock where we can.

The Woodland Trust and Furniture

It was a beautiful day to plant trees. Students and staff from Fife college planted over 300 Rowan, Blackthorn, Hazel, Cherry, Sweet Chestnut and Oaks in the hills near Kirkcaldy at Puddledub farm, Auchtertool.

The hard work and cold was interrupted only with a fleeting glimpse of a deer.
We still have about 200 trees more to settle into the ground, so there will be more tree planting before Spring.

Thank you to all the HND Furniture students for your hard work. Puddledub Farm for supplying the site and The Woodland Trust for gifting us 450 trees as part of their Centenary Woodland Programme. Fingers crossed they will all be successful and give us blast of autumn colour for years to come, supply a wonderful environment for wildlife and then timber for future craftspeople to make into things of beauty.

Autumn, Time To Plant Trees.

This is a picture taken in 1910 in Sequoia National Park, California. It is autumn in the northern hemisphere, time to gather seeds and plant trees for the future.

More tree . . .

More tree planting in the spring for all those of you who missed out, and to give everyone who planted oaks on Friday chance to dry out. Many thanks to Tom and staff at Puddledub farm for facilitating our expedition.
Images from top to bottom, image 1, image 2, image3, image4

Oak Trees Planted

Thank you tree planters xxxx