I have to admit that I am the least green-fingered member of the Woods for the Trees team. Plants don’t generally survive very long in my care. I guess this lack of skill is reflected in my job title of Digital Director – I’m far more confident pushing pixels around than I am tending green shoots.
But, as I approach retirement age, it’s become increasingly important for me to become more plant-friendly. Maybe taming my garden could become a source of pleasure in my retirement, as it does for so many?
Since Woods for the Trees started in 2020, like my colleagues Max and Stuart, I have been gathering tree seeds from my local parks (including Kew Gardens). Max and Stuart have been getting theirs to germinate – I’ve been trying to get mine to germinate.
For my first effort, in Autumn 2020, I carefully planted and labelled each seed in its own pot. I knew that there was a large colony of squirrels nearby, because Ginge, my cat, had often brought them home for dinner – not as guests, but as the main course. So, I carefully covered my pots with a nylon net and let nature do its magic (or so I hoped).
Unfortunately, I was completely outwitted by the squirrels. They gnawed their way through the net and stole every nut before any had a chance to get started. Ginge, who had previously terrorised the squirrels, didn’t lift a paw to stop them. So, that was the end of my tree nursery for a year.
Feeling my pain, my wife bought me a mini greenhouse the following year. This time, my tree nursery would be properly protected – all I would have to do is remember to open it up from time to time and water my thriving saplings.
Ginge was my undoing again this time. The top of the greenhouse was a convenient height for him and he used it as a springboard to get from the ground up to the garden wall and back. It wasn’t long before the plastic top had caved in under his substantial weight, exposing my tree nursery to the elements – and the hungry squirrels. So that was it for another year.
2021 had been a “mast year”, with loads of acorns covering the ground in my local parks. But, in contrast, there were next to none in 2022, so my tree nursery had to wait another year more.
In November 2023, Stuart and I visited Max and together we planted some trees in County Durham. The hazel trees at Thistle Wood had produced an abundance of nuts and we took away a few dozen each to propagate at home.
My brown fingers let me down again! I left it too late to plant the nuts and they were too dry to germinate. Fortunately, Max came to the rescue and posted me some hazels that he had stowed away in a bag of soil. The nuts were addressed to “Jonathan Hazelnut Culling”, which made me chuckle – although this was a nickname I had done nothing to deserve!
These new hazelnuts were already sprouting – surely not even I could fail now? I planted them in deep propagation trays (the sort we donate to our Nuts for the Trees schools) and wondered what to do to protect them from the elements and the local wildlife. I found that the lidded plastic crates that we use in our loft to stow away all the things we don’t need (and probably never will) were a perfect fit for two propagation trays side by side. They were also nice and deep, so I could keep the lid on to keep out predators and create a greenhouse-like environment for my baby nut trees.
I’m happy to tell you that the setup has worked. Most of the nuts have sprouted and have outgrown the height of the crate.
I will take the saplings down the M23 to plant them out at our southern planting in Hassocks, East Sussex later this year. Meanwhile, they have been replaced in the crate by a new batch of seeds (mostly cherries). At long last, I’m growing in confidence!