Autumn's bountiful harvest
26 October 2009
Conservation Volunteers Northern Ireland collects hundreds of thousands of seeds and fruits from native trees each year to grow in our Tree Nursery.
Trees from these seeds are then planted around the country in the grounds of community centres and schools, in country parks, private gardens, nature reserves and more.
This autumn, our biodiversity team is taking some of these skills to schools across Northern Ireland.
Children have been out and about seed gathering. They’ve been collecting alder cones to grow new trees for wet woodland. They’ve also been getting mucky mashing up hawthorn berries to extract the seeds – a process that helps our nursery produce new hawthorn plants.
Nurtured and protected, these trees should eventually grow into trees that are beneficial to our local biodiversity and enhance our landscape.
For tips on successful collection, germination and growing of our trees, visit the Trees of Our Future website. You can also get your hands on a copy of our “Autumn Seed Harvest” handbook – a guide to growing Northern Ireland’s native trees from seed.