Our Trees

Alder

Alnus glutinosa

Alder is fast growing and can become a large tree. It can also be managed as a smaller tree by coppicing or pollarding. Because the roots form a relationship with nitrogen fixing bacteria, alder can thrive in poorer and wetter ground than many other trees, and help improve the soil for surrounding crops. Alders often grow along rivers and streams and their roots can help prevent river bank erosion. The timber doesn’t rot in water; apparently much of Venice is built on alder piles! Tiny alder seeds are held in cone like structures and are spread by both wind and water. We have quite a few alders on the farm, growing along the banks of the Painswick stream, and we’ve also planted alder in our tree nursery to create shelterbelts.

Blackcurrant

Blackcurrants are not so easy to find in the shops, and taste best straight from your garden. Most people prefer to use blackcurrants cooked, or in preserves such as jellies and cordials, but they can also be eaten raw for a good tangy flavour.

Blackcurrants have a different growth habit to other currants and to gooseberries. They are usually grown with multiple stems arising straight from the ground, with a proportion of older stems cut out each year to make space for new shoots to appear. It is generally recommended to plant your blackcurrant bushes slightly deeper in the ground than they were in the nursery, and to initially prune them back to just a couple of buds on each stem to promote vigorous growth the following spring. Taking this approach does mean that you won’t get any currants in the first year, but should get a bigger harvest the second year.

Our blackcurrants are grown from cuttings and they are sold as two year old plants.

Blackthorn

Prunus spinosa

The fruits of blackthorn are known as sloes, and can be used to make sloe gin. Despite being a small tree, blackthorn can live for over 100 years. Its dense spiny branches make good nest sites for birds, and the mass of white flowers lift our spirits in early spring and provide a valuable source of nectar for bees. We have blackthorn in many hedges around the farm.

Crack willow

Salix fragilis

Crack willow is commonly found along streams and river banks. It grows fast and can become a large tree – or managed as a smaller tree through coppicing or pollarding. The ‘crack’ in this willow’s name is commonly attributed to the way the twigs snap off easily. In a mature tree, older branches will also sometimes partially break, resting on the ground and throwing up new vertical shoots. Crack willow produces dangling catkins in the spring and has classic long thin pointed willow leaves. The crack willow on the farm grows along the banks of the Painswick stream.

Grown from cuttings.

Dogwood

Cornus sanguinea

Dogwood has really hard wood, which was used to make skewers or ‘dags’ in the past. It’s a shrubby tree that likes to grow in hedges and sunny woodland edges. The young stems can be red or green, and the leaves turn a beautiful red in autumn. Several ornamental varieties have been bred for use in gardens, but this wild original is very pretty too. We have a few in our hedges on the farm.

Elder

Sambucus nigra

Elder is a shrubby tree with many uses. It especially enjoys living in nitrogen rich soil. The wide flat umbrellas of white flowers can be used to make delicious cordials. The black berries are rich in vitamin C, but poisonous if eaten raw. Many moth caterpillars feed on elder leaves, and the leaves, bark, and berries can all be used to make dyes. The stems of elder are hollow or filled with soft pith. There are elder trees in many of our hedges around the farm.

English Oak

Quercus robur

Oak trees support hundreds of species of insects, as well as many other invertebrates, birds and mammals. Oak ‘apples’ or galls, created when a special wasp lays her eggs in the developing acorn, were for centuries used to make ink. The tannins in oak can be used to tan leather, acorns can be turned into flour, and oak timber is very strong and durable. We have some big oaks in our fields and hedges, and have planted many more for the future. Oaks can live for 1000 years or more.

Field Maple

Acer campestre

Field maple is our only native maple. The winged seeds are similar to sycamore and whirl to the ground like helicopters. Maple is tolerant of air pollution and the leaves turn beautiful colours in autumn, so it’s a popular city and garden tree. We have a few on the farm, grown out in our hedges and woodland edges. The wood is apparently particularly good for making harps.

Goat willow

Salix caprea

Goat willow is also known as pussy willow, after the silky grey male catkins, which appear before the leaves in spring. It is a small shrubby tree, with much rounder leaves than most other willow species. We have goat willow growing around some of the old buildings on the farm, as well as in boggier places and stream edges. The branches were traditionally used to decorate churches on Palm Sunday.

Grown from cuttings.

Gooseberry

Gooseberries are not common in the shops, but they are easy to grow and totally delicious. Gooseberry bushes are traditionally grown in the form of an open bowl on a ‘leg’ or short stem, but can also be trained as cordons or fans, or allowed to live as a multi-stemmed bush. Gooseberries are hardy and straightforward. They can tolerate some shade.

All our gooseberries are dessert varieties, which means they can be eaten raw, straight off the bush if you like. They can of course also be cooked to make jams, pies and puddings. Our gooseberries are grown from cuttings taken from our own mother plants and they are sold as two year old plants.

Hawthorn

Crataegus monogyna

Hawthorn is a common hedgerow plant but can also grow into a small tree. The creamy white, scented flowers, known as ‘may’, appear in May. Hawthorn has long been associated with the start of summer, mayday and fertility. The leaves are a food plant for many moth caterpillars, and in autumn the red fruits (haws) are eaten by migrating birds as well as small mammals. The leaves and flower buds are also edible to humans, but watch out for the thorns! We have loads of hawthorn growing in hedges all over the farm.

Hazel

Corylus avellana

Hazel’s smooth bark, dangling ‘lambs tails’ catkins in spring and large soft round leaves are a familiar presence in woods, hedges and parks. Hazel has traditionally been managed as a coppice tree. The system of rotational coppicing, with blocks of trees at different stages of regrowth, created a mosaic of different habitats within a woodland. The poles were harvested for making hurdles, thatching spars, chairs and much more. Uncoppiced older trees have a very different form, with more gnarly bark and branches.

Horse Chestnut

Aesculus hippocastanum

Horse chestnut is the conker tree, beloved of children everywhere. It was introduced to the UK in the 1500s, and is commonly planted in public places. There is a grand conker tree over the road at Hawkwood. As well as the shiny brown conkers, the trees have big sticky buds over winter, huge candles of white flowers in the spring time, and big palmate leaves. Horse chestnut is vulnerable to fungal diseases, and chestnut leaf miners often make the leaves turn brown early in the autumn.

Ivy

Hedera Helix

Ivy obviously isn’t a tree, but seems to belong so closely with trees that we felt we needed to grow it in our tree nursery. Ivy blooms late in the year, and can be literally humming with bees from September to November. The berries ripen in winter and provide an important food source for many birds. Evergreen leaves mean that ivy can offer shelter to birds, insects and small mammals all year round. Young ivy needs a tree or other structure to climb up but is not parasitic, and once mature can become self supporting. We have lots of rich clumps of ivy around the farm and love to see them full of bees in the autumn.

Redcurrant

Redcurrants can be used fresh and raw, but many people prefer to use them cooked or in preserves. They are easy to grow, tolerating some shade, and ripen in June or July. You may need to protect your crop from the birds!

Redcurrants, like gooseberries, are traditionally grown on a ‘leg’ or short stem, and pruned into an open bowl shape.

Our redcurrants are grown from cuttings and they are sold as two year old plants.

Rhubarb

Rhubarb is a fairly fail safe perennial, which can keep producing for years with minimal attention. It dies down to almost nothing over winter, likes a good feed of organic matter, and pops up in the spring to provide delicious stems for crumbles, wines, jams, tarts, cakes… It’s best not to harvest any in the first year after planting to allow the plant to fully establish. In subsequent years, pull the stems to harvest, rather than cutting them.

We currently grow all our rhubarb from seed, which means it has more genetic diversity than rhubarb propagated from splitting crowns. We supply rhubarb as both potted plants and as dormant crowns. Crowns might look ugly and dead but they are chunky roots, with shoots ready to grow in the springtime.

Walnut

Juglans regia

Walnut trees probably arrived in the UK with the Romans, so although not native, they’ve been local a long time. They can be spectacular trees just for the sake of being trees. Ours are also all grafted varieties selected for nut production, and for their suitability to the UK climate.

Walnuts can grow to 35m in height. They are wind pollinated and most will need another walnut tree or two (potentially growing wild) nearby for successful pollination. They prefer a well drained location and as they are vulnerable to late frosts, need to be planted out of any particularly cold spots. It’s generally a good idea to stake your walnut tree in the early years, and it may also need protection from browsing deer, rabbits and/or livestock.

Walnut trees can be tricky to establish, and some dieback in the first year or two is fairly common.

Say walnut, and most of us think of the wrinkly brown, ripe nuts. However, immature green walnuts can also be pickled whole, for a different taste experience, which may allow you to make better use of the crop if late ripening is an issue or if squirrels are pinching the nuts before you can get to them. Alternatively, if you have a large nut crop, walnuts can be pressed to produce a delicious culinary oil.

Wild Cherry

Prunus avium

Wild cherries are especially beautiful in the spring time, with their white blossoms appearing before the leaves. The early spring flowers are great for bees and the leaves are an important food source for many moth caterpillars. The cherries are loved by birds, who help the tree by depositing its digested seeds far and wide in their poo. The white lumpy lines you see in the smooth brown cherry bark are rows of lenticels, which are essentially breathing holes for the tree. We have a few wild cherry trees in our woodland.