2021 Roundup

January 2021 saw the completion of our Woodland Creation Project. The Isle of Eigg Heritage Trust, The Woodland Trust and the Eigg Tree Nursery all worked together to deliver the creation of a native woodland with 17,500 trees all grown in the tree nursery with the project providing employment for 5 people. This was the first time the IEHT has done any new planting since 1998. This planting project pushed the tree nursery to the max but showed our potential capabilities. A sudden shift from growing around 5,000 trees a year to over doubling our stock to 13,000 it became clear for the ongoing production and to meet future demand there was a need to invest in some basic equipment to make the process far more efficient. If you would like to read more on the Woodland Creation Project, check out this article in Reforesting Scotland.

No time to rest after the Woodland Creation Project and it was straight on to sowing seed for growing on for the year. The first picture above was our Birch seed. The next pictures are all Sycamore showing the transplanting/pricking out process into rootrainers. Sycamore and Cherry always seem to be the keenest to get going in a year. Spring 2021 was incredibly erratic weather-wise along with the longest frost I can remember which then led to a pretty erratic germination for all species. Despite the challenges we did get some success stories.

We managed to grow our very first Aspen. We collected roots from an area in Cleadale. The roots were cut into sections and planted into a bed in the tunnel. The first picture shows the very first shoot that popped up, that was a very exciting day! The shoot is then cut and we tried putting the cuttings into pots with a bag over to keep them moist. This was ok and was relatively successful but some kind of an automatic misting set up would be required. With no power at the tunnel and being very short on funds, purchasing a ready made misting table was out of the question. We purchased a misting line that is used for fitting to gazebos to keep people misted in hot weather (!) It actually was quite effective and kept the cutting alive to produce a rooting system after about 6 – 8 weeks or so and then the rooted cuttings were transplanted into rootrainers and grown on. I also tried planting the cuttings straight into rootrainers missing out the middle process which was successful. Any time saving processes feels a huge victory. Hopefully this technique wasn’t a beginners luck situation and the same process will work in 2022! They were very susceptible to wind damage in the process of hardening them off outside the misting unit but working towards sourcing funds to purchase raised benching which should help this process greatly taking stock above the mesh sides of the tunnel.

After the 2020 growing season for the Woodland Creation Project the most urgent identified upgrades to the tree nursery was a separate smaller seed germinating tunnel. I found the watering cycle very hard to cater to all the different species growing, newly transplanted seedlings and seed trays without some being too dry and other waterlogged. Next most important on the list was more rootrainers to allow an increase in production along with pots for various things. We were very happy to be successful in 40% grant funding from Scottish Forestry under their Forestry Grant Scheme. We managed to purchase the items and get the new tunnel built by April. I was very grateful for the assistance on a few vital parts of the build from the SWT volunteers and Eigg volunteers.

The new tunnel and rootrainers were put straight to use. The next planting will be restructuring and restocking our forestry plantation with more native species, increasing biodiversity, and moving away from a monoculture of Sitka Spruce that do not support species rich habitats. Along with native species we will include some conifers to increase the productivity for future requirements. This was the first conifers we have grown in the tree nursery. As the seed for most conifers is an intricate routine of processing and storage treatments, we sourced our seed from Forestart, a reputable and traceable supplier of seed. We chose seed collected from registered stands in the UK to avoid any potential bio security issues from imports outwith the UK. The new tunnel saw the first planted conifer seed, individually planted straight into rootrainer cells.

May to September was a whirl of transplanting seedlings and bracken clearance. The bracken clearance involved cutting by hand around each tree on the Woodland Creation Site. A back breaking job but worth it to see the survival and growth rates of the wee babies planted in February! I had a few tree nursery tours from interested community members and individuals interested in setting up their own tree nurseries. It is a great network of folk sharing tips and experiences. We also hosted a visit from the Woodland Trust for a day of knowledge exchange and practical site visit from the tree nursery to the completed Woodland Creation site. By September the tunnel was looking pretty green with the majority success with oak, hazel, birch and rowan.

Autumn saw squirreling season to secure the tree nurseries next season stock. It may have been erratic weather in spring but the hard frosts and sunny season seemed to encourage a very fruitful year. Record collections were made of all species, nuts and berries galore! We filled the new tunnel with 237 rootrainer trays adding up to 6944 individual acorns, although not every seed will grow. We are trialing storing the acorns inside for a higher germination. They are stored in the new tunnel throughout the winter in the meshed boxes to keep them rodent safe! Alder and Birch are stored in the loft wrapped in newspaper and the rest of the seeds and hazelnuts were processed and put into winter storage with a mix of sand and compost in pots, fishboxes and recycled cattle feed plastic boxes.

November I took some well deserved time off to have a wee breather after such a busy season! December came round fast enough which saw the start of grading and sorting stock that could be for sale, unsalable, what will require replanting to grow on and general maintenance and tunnel tidying. After another challenging, successful, fulfilling range of tasks and projects completed I would say that was a fantastic year all in!