Growing Trees
Posted on 13th July 2020 at 10:00
The New Way To Grow Trees
Trees, Trees, Trees
Mires Beck currently grows 24 species of trees, though we plan to add new species in 2021. Though not all species are native to the UK, we aim to become a grower of only UK sourced seed and are working towards an assurty mark from the Woodland Trust. Growing from British seed drastically reduces the risk of spreading the many and devastating tree diseases found across the world and reduces the carbon footprint of the seed and 90% of our 2020 stock is currently UK sourced. Our aim is to sell trees in order quantities of any number between 500-30,000 with our current capacity at approximately 70,000. We are looking to increase this production working with supplies through HEYwoods Forest Partnership and the Community Forest projects.
Root trainers are the way to grow
At Mires Beck our trees are grown in root trainers. Why are root trainer trees superior? This is the BIG point! Trees grown in root trainers come with a solid and well-established root system within which the trees grow. This allows them to better cope with adverse weather conditions post planting as opposed to bare roots. Bare roots can only be planted in winter (around a three-month suitable period) and need to be planted within 10 days of being removed at the tree nursery or they begin to die. Root trainer grown trees are not dug up and have a root ball allowing them to be planted over an average 10 months of the year and can be kept in their containers for many weeks provided they are watered. This makes them a much more flexible product for managers planning planting schemes and staff time. Root trainers come with added slow release fertiliser which boosts the growth of the tree in the first 18 months leading to faster establishment in the ground when compared to bare roots. The ridges on root trainer booklets grow vertically encouraging root growth from the bottom of the tree which speeds up tree establishment. Despite being superior, root trainers are of a comparable price to bare root trees. Trees are a fundamentally important part of the natural environment with many thousands of species using them as a shelter or food source. Our trees are grown in both medium sized root trainers and 9cm pots though a small number are grown in 5ltr pots for retail customers on site.
How long does it take?
The trees will grow in either the greenhouse or the poly tunnels while they are soft and tender but on average, they will stay in these environments for about 2 months before being taken outside. Once they reach 15cm tall they get put outside to mature faster and they grow for about 10 months before going out for sale to the public.We grow better product for customers through the root trainer system compared to a high volume grower as our trees are managed from seed throughout the growing process with the help of a dedicated tree team who tend these plants until they leave the nursery. We aim for quality over quantity as this means that there is a better chance of the tree growing to be fully mature.
HEYwoods
The HEYwoods initiative aims to increase woodland cover and to improve the management of existing trees, woods and associated habitats in Kingston upon Hull and the East Riding of Yorkshire. They are our county lead in establishing the new Northern Forest between Hull and Bolton. Together, the East Riding of Yorkshire and Kingston upon Hull area has only approximately 2.6% woodland cover: significantly less than the national average of approximately 8.4%. HEYwoods works alongside a range of organisations, community groups and members of the public to deliver its ambitious aims for the area. Increasing tree and woodland cover on a meaningful scale can only be achieved by partnership working and HEYwoods provides a source of support and advice for those wanting to improve their local area woodland cover.
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