The biggest Arboricultural event of its kind in Europe!

Preparations are near completion for our Big Barn Conference on Wednesday 17th June. We have guest speakers from around the world updating our 600 registered delegates on the latest Arboricultural research. Lord Framlingham has kindly agreed to do the keynote speech and aims to heighten awareness of the threat of pest and disease coming into the country from imported trees. His speech in the House of Lords in January highlighted the importance of quarantining imported trees and he kindly mentioned that Barcham was the only nursery who currently does this. Since then the idea has gained traction with mainstream magazines like Gardens World featuring this way ahead and I hope tomorrow will further cement this process. With this option available, it will be up to specifiers and buyers to enforce this level of biosecurity by asking how long stock has been in the country and what level of pest and disease screening has been undertaken, i.e. have the trees been routinely inspected by DEFRA.

This will be the largest Arboricultural event in Europe for 2015 and preparations to get the nursery up to speed have not been easy! We were right on track before 50mph winds 10 days ago gave our production team plenty to think about but happily all the repairs have been done. Staging and seating went in yesterday and the main marquee is going up today. All that remains is to decorate the conference area with trees brought in from the main nursery and wait for the first cars to arrive tomorrow morning. Thankfully it looks like the weather will be on our side!

Posted by Mike Glover

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Are you leaves looking damaged?

Last week saw June winds in excess of 50mph sweep through the UK and it resembled autumn rather than summer!

This very rare event, I cannot remember anything like it in my 30 years of tree growing, has bruised emerging leaves up and down the country. When leaves emerge they are very soft and tender as they have yet to form the waxy cuticle that protects them against rain and wind. The wind of a few days ago picked up tiny particles of debris and effectively sand blasted these new leaves which damaged their surface. Their dishevelled appearance, though alarming, is not as bad as it seems as leaves compensate to remain efficient and all will be forgotten when the trees produce another flush of growth in July.

Although the timing of this blast was bad for newly emerging leaves it effects were not as bad as the very late sharp frost we had at the end of May about seven years ago which turned all the new soft growth black, as well as destroying local wheat and barley crops on neighbouring farms. I remember being very disheartened that morning! The trees recovered then and the growing season developed into a good one so never despair on these setbacks!

On the plus side, temperatures are gently climbing so it is a great time to water and feed your newly planted trees to stimulate root development which in turn produces more shoot development. At Barcham, we got off fairly lightly with only a few trees down as their infrastructure wires came free of their supports in the strong gusts. We will spend the next two weeks or so getting everything back to how it was on Monday morning. Here’s hoping that the next wind we get on this scale doesn’t happen until winter.

     

Posted by Mike Glover

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OCGA visit to Barcham Trees 5th May 2015

Present: Simon Bagnall, Kieron Smith, Ben Pritchard, Jeremy Dickson, Jade Atkinson, Chris Munday, Gwyn Hanson & Michael Pirie

Our spring outing this year was to Cambridgeshire, to one of the country’s leading nurseries, Barcham Trees, where we were welcomed, shown round and fed courtesy of the Managing Director, Mike Glover.

It is always good to see excellence in practice in whatever field of activity and Barcham Trees demonstrate how modern tree production and marketing are done on a large scale.

On the production side, the correct sourcing of tree seeds or young trees for growing on was vital, many years being required in many cases for the trees to become ready for sale. Some specialized lines were bought in. The trees might be field grown for a few years but they were all ultimately sold in pots and the whole area which we viewed was a field of container grown trees, supported on a strong system of posts and wires (it can be very windy out there). Each tree was individually numbered. Mike had developed the practice of growing trees in white pots over many years, which had been shown to produce much better root systems for transplanting. He was now selling these pots (actually soft material with handles) far and wide to other growers. Because he was using a soilless compost, largely for reasons of weight, he had to ensure correct watering and nutrition for optimum growth. So as well as a watering system connected to each tree he supplied a liquid feed which changed according to the season: higher in nitrogen in the spring, reducing as the summer wore on.

On the marketing side the nursery capitalized on the ever-increasing modern trend for specimen tree planting in the public, commercial and private spheres. To this Mike had added the power of the internet to develop the business. For example, a number of trees suitable for gardens (about 3000) were selected and taken individually into a tall purpose-built barn to be filmed. The video could be viewed online so that a customer could order a specific tree, as if they had been touring the nursery. In practice, to judge by the very consistent and even quality of trees in the field, this refinement was not necessary for the majority of large buyers, but the use of such clever technology was impressive. Mike had also introduced another familiar symbol of modern marketing, the sell-by date. In order to reassure customers that his trees had not been growing in the same pot for years and years he shredded all trees in their final pots which had not sold by the end of their ‘shelf-life’, typically two years after potting up.

After our tour of the nursery we enjoyed Barcham’s full hospitality and were given copies of ‘Time for Trees’ edition 2, which will no doubt become the tree ‘bibles’ of our garden sheds and offices. Thanks go to Simon for setting up the visit and especially to Mike Glover for receiving us so openly and generously.

Several of us took the opportunity to visit the other main attraction in the area, Ely Cathedral, before heading back to Oxford.

Michael Pirie May 2015

Posted by Mike Glover

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How do we start our trees?

We are known for our instant impact large trees but unlike virtually all other tree nurseries in the UK, we actually grow our trees from scratch! Most trees are imported into the UK but we make a point of collecting seed from native veteran trees to grow the very best providence stock. This year we have had great germination on our Quercus ilex and Castanea sativa crops. Harvesting acorns from the Burghley Estate in Lincolnshire and the Holkham Estate in Norfolk, we sow directly into our seed frames and look at the result! Fabulous young seedlings that we will containerise this autumn to grow on for a further year before lining out in our field to eventually lift and containerize as large trees fit to grace your garden. This process takes up to 12 years from start to finish but there are no shortcuts if you are to end up with UK providence stock.

Having been at the Chelsea Flower Show all week it really hits home that all the trees featured are all imported from Europe. The trouble with this is that imported pests can travel in with this stock which endangers our native trees. Oak Processionary Moth and Ash Die Back have both come into the country via imported trees and the former is going to be the responsibility of the home owner to resolve if found in your garden. It had cost government over a six figure sum to try and control Oak Processionary Moth but this will now fall on the home owner. All because nurseries shortcut the growing phase and import trouble.

So, to safeguard against this, always ask your nursery from where your trees are coming from and then get it in writing from them that they will take on the costs if needed to mop up any unwelcome pest and diseases.

Or buy from a nursery who has control of their production like Barcham!!

Posted by Mike Glover

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Choosing our Chelsea trees today!

With the set up for our stand at the Chelsea Flower Show starting this Thursday, we have selected our trees this morning. I would have loved to have taken a tree from a superb batch of Cercis siliquastrum (Judas Tree) but unfortunately they are in full flower so won’t last carrying this blossom into next week.

In the end we picked a lovely Prunus Royal Burgundy multi stem, a couple of lush Sorbus aria Lutescens, a mixture of birch to show the difference in Bark colour, three Acer platanoides Princeton Gold and an assortment of pleached trees. To mark the entrance of the stand we have picked out two magnificent Taxus baccata Fastigiata, upright yew, which are over six feet tall.

There are many more of our trees working their way down to Chelsea, both to gardens and trade stands so if you get to go you will be surrounded by our stock! It is always a challenge to supply gardening shows at this time of year as many of the tree genus have not achieved anything like full canopy whilst many of the flowering trees such as cherry and crab apple have already produced their flowering display. We try and rig the changes every year to keep the visitors guessing and give them new choices to consider.

If you are visiting Chelsea this week, be sure to visit us on stand WA2. We are selling our hardback reference took, time for Trees, for a discounted price of £10 from their normal price of £25 so don’t miss out!

   

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Is it too late for planting trees?

Traditionally it is always best to plant deciduous trees when they are dormant between the end of October and the end of March. Evergreen trees are best planted in October and March / April. Trees plucked from the open ground as either root balled or bare rooted specimens have up to 80% of their root system displaced so are more prone to failure when done outside of these months and are even quite fickle when done inside this period

However, containerized trees lengthen the tree planting window as the roots are un-wounded and ready to explore their new soil straight away. Even though it is still best to plant in season, they can still be planted very effectively all summer so long as they are given regular and slowly applied water every week until they go into their autumn dormancy.

Tree roots grow actively when the soil temperature rises above 10 degrees Celsius and soil structure is all important to promote root run. Tree roots want water and oxygen blended in measure for maximizing performance. Imagine a nice crumbling soil based compost like John Innes running through your fingers. It isn’t compact so hold loads of oxygen and it retains water for the roots to access. Heavy clay soils are difficult to get into a good structure in the winter as they often hold water into big clods. Work a clay soil in the summer when it dries out and can be shattered into a friable crumb to nestle nicely against a root system. Also be mindful not to compact the soil by excessively firming in after planting, the stakes do the job of holding your newly planted tree.

Preparation is the key to tree planting. Digging the soil to the correct depth and creating the right soil structure are the most important things before watering in after planting. Please refer to our short planting video, plant our trees in this way any month of the year and you won’t go wrong!!

Posted by Mike Glover

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How often do I need to water my newly planted trees?

Every spring is different but this year has been especially dry and warm which means your trees are in need of a water! It is important to apply the water slowly to give time for your soil to grip it and then let the roots access it. Imagine pouring a litre of water via a jug onto a hanging basket. Most of the water falls out the bottom and onto the ground below making it useless for the plants in the basket. It this water was applied as a litre of cube of ice, no water would fall through the basket as it would take four hours to melt and give time for the compost to grip it. Slow release water is the key to watering so attach a sprinkler rose on the end of your hose or watering can to slow the delivery up.

Trees have evolved to accept rainfall as a delivery system for water so the best way to copy this is a garden sprinkler. Simply set it up delivering its droplets back and forth over your newly planted tree and walk away for half an hour. Coarse mulch also slows up the delivery of the water through to the soil and this also prevents future evaporation and soil capping.

Another good way to achieve a slow water delivery system as well as doubling up as a mulch mat is to use our Tree Watering Bags. Water is dispensed over an hour or two and trees really thrive with this kind of treatment.

If a tree is less than 24 months planted, I would start watering it in April and aim to deliver 6 litres of slowly applied water one a week until full canopy is achieved in late May / June. After this I would step this up to twice weekly until the end of September when you can hang up your irrigation kit for the autumn and winter. Don’t be fooled by summer rainfall as this can bounce off the full and leafy canopy and drop beyond the root zone to provide a useful top up but not enough direct water.

All this watering advice is assuming that the ground is free draining as waterlogging your trees deprives the roots of oxygen and could drown them.

As always, if in doubt, please contact us either by phone, e mail or live chat. We are always on hand to offer more advice!

Posted by Mike Glover

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Why is my evergreen looking miserable?

Magnolia, Broadleaved evergreen trees such as Quercus ilex (Evergreen Oak) , Magnolia grandiflora (Southern Prunus laurocerasus types (Laurel), Ligustrum types (Privet) and Photinia Red Robin always look at their most raggedy in March / April before their old leaves are jettisoned by the new spring flush.

The term evergreen is misleading as no tree keeps its existing leaves for that long! Pines do something called third season needle drop where the leaf set three springs ago goes yellow and drops away from the inner part of the crown as the newer foliage on the outer tips of the tree takes over and shades out the older leaves. For the golfers amongst you, just look at the ‘pine straw’ at the Augusta Masters! This is old pine needles, dropped from the tree canopy above.

Leaves have one main function in life, to convert sunlight into energy, so if they are shaded out they are cast aside. For a tree that is preparing to shed its leaf in readiness for the new flush to follow, the emphasis is off protecting the old leaf but rather concentrating on the new. This is why some evergreen turn yellow and blotchy in the spring as the tree is not bothering to look out for them anymore.

Most of these symptoms are far more noticeable on young trees as their canopies are less advanced and the leaves less numerous. As the tree matures you don’t really notice as new replaces old.

Leaves have to cope with a lot over the year. Rain, hail, snow, frost, wind and insect munching being just some of the things a delicate living thing has to cope with for its 12 months of usefulness. Don’t worry if an evergreen tree looks tired in the spring, it’s only the natural order of things. In fact, it is the ideal time to give the tree a shapely haircut knowing that the new flush of leaves is just a few weeks away.

Posted by Mike Glover

 

 

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Bring on the flowering cherries!

Prunus types all over the country are starting to flower, heralding the start of spring. Prunus Okame is one of the first to flower in March whilst Prunus maackii Amber Beauty is generally the first tree to leaf up in April. There are some great examples of cherry planting all over the UK including the Prunus Kanzan avenue on the Stray in Harrogate and the Prunus dulcis street trees in Barnet, London. The trick to establish cherries and get them thriving is to plant them on a free draining soil and to not plant them deep. Any hint of waterlogged ground and they succumb with bacterial canker with Prunus Tai Haku being the most susceptible to failing if the conditions aren’t right.

For the longest flowering period look no further than Prunus shirofugen. It flushes white and then darkens to pink over a six week period. The one outside my office window on the nursery still has a smattering of flower left on it in June!

For those of you who can’t wait until the spring, try Prunus subhirtella Autumnalis or Prunus subhirtella Autumnalis Rosea which start to flower in the autumn and them carry on throughout the winter before a full on display in April. In cold winters the flower will freeze off but generally they are very reliable.

My personal preference is Prunus Shimidsu Sakura which has the most stunning double white delicate flowers. Pink in bud and with a slightly weeping habit, its glorious floral display is great against a blue sky. What is more, like most cherries, its autumn colour is also impressive with green leaves tuning shades of yellows and reds in November.

If you like the sound of flowering cherries but haven’t got the soil to support them, consider the Malus Crab Apples which grow on wetter and heavier soils. In my opinion, Malus Rudolph is the best pink whilst Malus Evereste is the best white.

 

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