Keeping The History Of Ancient Trees Growing

[temi]

Most of us have come home from an autumn walk with pockets full of conkers and acorns. Collecting seeds from trees is something kids and adults have done for generations. But this autumn, thereâ??s a special request to collect and plant seeds from ancient trees during seed gathering month, 23 September to 23 October 2008. The Woodland Trustâ??s Ancient Tree Hunt and the Tree Council want members of the public to take part in this autumnâ??s Acorns to Ancients project by creating family â??histreesâ??. Collecting seeds from ancient trees to grow into new trees, and writing about them on the Ancient Tree Hunt website will help to ensure the UKâ??s ancient trees have plenty of healthy descendents. You can find the nearest ancient or veteran tree on the Ancient Tree Hunt website www.AncientTreeHunt.org.uk where there are also tips for collecting and growing seeds into new trees. Trees marked with a green sign on the website are officially ancient or veteran trees in public places, so you can visit them any time and collect their seeds. The Ancient Tree Hunt team has picked out its favourite ancient trees around the country and posted them on the website, so you can gather seeds from an ancient tree close to where you live. Acorns from oak trees, ash keys from ash trees, and beechnuts from beech trees are all easy to grow and will be big enough to plant outside after a year or so. A â??new ancientâ?? could even become one of the thousands of trees at new woodland sites around the country during the next five to ten years. â??Itâ??s really important to gather seeds from an ancient tree thatâ??s close to where you live,â?? said Ancient Tree Hunt project manager Nikki Williams. â??Looking for ancient trees in your area from which to gather seeds is really important. Seeds that come from local trees belong to a tree family thatâ??s already accustomed to the type of soil and climate where you live. Ancient trees have already proved they can live for a long time, so itâ??s good idea to collect from them. Thereâ??s a good chance their offspring can also live into old age. Local species of tree will also benefit local wildlife which is already adapted to them, rather than planting unusual trees from other places. â??The best trees to gather seeds from are grouped together, but not by roadsides. Also, try to go seed gathering on a dry day because wet seeds donâ??t store very well. And donâ??t forget to write in the treeâ??s blog so other people will know that you are growing ancient tree descendents!â?? she added. The Ancient Tree Hunt is a five year project to record 100,000 of the UKâ??s oldest trees. These are the fattest, gnarliest and most-wrinkled. After the first year of the project, tree fans and members of the public have found and recorded more than 20,000 ancient trees on the website, adding details like the size of its girth, photos and stories connected with the tree.

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