Thorpe Trees celebrates the planting of 150,000 acorns as part of National Tree Week 2010

Thorpe Trees is celebrating planting the last of 150,000 acorns at its nursery in Thorpe Underwood, near Harrogate, as part of both National Tree Week 2010 and their ongoing programme to grow and sell high quality native trees such as the English oak. The 150,000 acorns planted, which weighed over 700 kilos, will be ready to lift from the ground in two years time when they have germinated and developed into oak seedlings ready to plant.

Whilst many of the acorns have been supplied to Thorpe Trees by a specialist seed company, in order to ensure the production of hardy nursery stock, over 20% have been gathered by the Thorpe Trees team themselves from hedgerows and fields in the local area, with the help of two key members of the team, Jack Russells Maisie and Benson.

Caroline Taylor, Director of Thorpe Trees said: Weve been collecting acorns around the Thorpe Underwood locality for a month and built up quite a stock in preparation for the start of this project.  As well as being great fun to do, it is also a serious part of our whole business philosophy to use seeds of local origin wherever possible, which produce hardy, healthy and robust stock of northern provenance.

We are also delighted to be part of National Tree Week and help promote the message that trees are a vital part of our life and landscape to help combat climate change and improve our environment.  According to the Tree Council, planting of new trees across Britain has fallen to its lowest level in more than three decades and we need more trees planted now if we are to see any benefit for forthcoming generations.

National Tree Week is organised by the Tree Council, and runs from 27 November until 5 December 2010.   First mounted in 1975, National Tree Week is the UK’s largest annual tree celebration and marks the start of the winter tree planting season.   The Week is a great chance for communities to do something positive for their local treescape, and each year, Tree Council members, including voluntary bodies, local authorities, schools and community groups support the initiative by setting up fun, accessible events, inspiring upward of a quarter of a million people to plant around a million trees.

Established in 1985, Thorpe Trees is the leading tree nursery in the north of England for bare-rooted trees, hedge plants and woodland shrubs. Owned and managed by Caroline Taylor, daughter of founder Alastair Taylor, the nursery grows over 1.2 million trees per annum on its 50 acre site, comprising over 60 different species.  These include a full range of traditional British trees including native broadleaves, conifers, hedge plants, woodland shrubs, fruit trees and willows, as well as ornamental and specimen varieties, woodland bulbs, grass seed mixtures plus a wide range of specialist sundries and accessories.

Over 50% of Thorpe Trees business is supplying farmers and landowners with trees and hedging for forestry and woodland planting projects, including coppicing, growing trees for wood fuel and creating new wildlife habitats. Another 20% of its sales are to the Woodland Trust for their MOREwoods tree scheme, an initiative designed to support landowners in planting new native woodland.

Other customers it supplies includes game cover and conservation businesses, landscape contractors, recreational businesses such as golf, fishing, holiday parks etc., local authorities and the general public.

The company specialises in offering advisory visits, planting advice and assistance for its clients toward grant applications and stewardship schemes.  These include:

• The English Woodland Grant Scheme, a grant run by the Forestry Commission for the creation of new woodlands.
• The Farm Woodland Payments Scheme, which provides an annual compensatory payment for the conversion of agricultural land to new woodland.
• The Environmental Stewardship Scheme, run by DEFRA to provide funds to farmers and land managers for effective environmental management of their land.
• Local Authority Grant Schemes, which offer grant aid for conservation projects of varying size and purpose.

Further detailed information about these schemes is available on the Thorpe Trees website at www.thorpetrees.com.

Caroline commented: It is always worth contacting the team at Thorpe Trees, who have extensive experience in this area, to see if you are eligible for a grant.  The planting season runs from now until the end of March, so now is the perfect time to start planting tree and hedge schemes and help in the drive to increase the number of native trees and woods we have in the UK.

Thorpe Trees was established by Alastair Taylor, Caroline’s father, in 1985 at Ouseburn, near Harrogate. It grows over 1.2 million plants per annum on its 50 acre site, and employs five full time staff.

The company offers over 60 species for sale, including a full range of traditional British trees such as native broadleaves, conifers, hedge plants, woodland shrubs, fruit trees and willows, as well as ornamental and specimen varieties, woodland bulbs, grass seed mixtures plus a wide range of specialist sundries and accessories.