Growing trees has an annual cycle from seed to sapling. Throughout the year we have a variety of seasonal tasks which take place at our Hub, Community Tree Nurseries, School Nurseries, local woodland and tree planting locations.
January to March
- From January the seeds start to germinate, and we sow, prick out, and nurture our seedlings at our Hub.
- We lift the trees from our community tree nurseries and ‘heel’ them in until they are ready to be collected for planting out. With the ever-increasing number of trees that we are growing, this is a huge task!
- We undertake our planting projects and plant out our tree saplings at their final destination.
- Work starts on new nurseries including fencing, digging beds and any other structural work.
April to June
- In April and May, we continue to prick out, water and nurture our seedlings until they are ready to be planted out in our Community Tree Nursery network.
- The tree beds at all our nurseries are prepared for the arrival of the new seedlings.
- Infrastructure work at our nurseries such as building sheds, water irrigation systems or new raised beds takes place during this time.
- Work on new nurseries is finalised.
- Mid-May to June, the new seedlings are transported from our Hub and planted out at our various tree nurseries.
July and August
- Our newly planted seedlings are growing on at our nurseries and being looked after by our volunteers.
- We protect and water the seedlings. Great care is taken to watch the weather during the summer months so trips to water on a summer evening are a common activity!
September to December
- From September the seed collecting season starts and we run regular weekly trips from September to December to collect thousands of berries, nuts and seeds from local woodlands.
- The seeds are then processed at our Hub and stored for stratification* or planted directly into trays or pots.
- * What is seed stratification? Stratification is a process of pre-treating seeds in order to simulate natural conditions that seeds would experience in the soil over winter. This helps the seed “break dormancy” and initiate the germination process.
- From October, we start planning for our next tree planting projects.