Blog - Propagation

New specimens are the lifeblood of any botanical collection.

Once again our student arborist placement is well under way, and this year we’ve been thrilled to receive the generous support from two funders, the Finnis Scott Foundation and the Ernest Cook Trust.

One of the first plantings of 2016, this young Giant Redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) was planted on the downs area of Westonbirt. It is the first Giant Redwood of Westonbirt origin to be successfully germinated and grown on site.

You may notice some temporary traffic lights outside the arboretum today and tomorrow (27 and 28 January 2016).

Chalara dieback of ash, commonly known as ash dieback, caused by the Hymenoscyphus fraxineus fungus, has been confirmed at Westonbirt, The National Arboretum, this autumn.

Westonbirt Arboretum’s Tree Team is working with The Duchy College to grow new plants from some of the collection’s oldest and rarest rhododendrons.

Deciding when to remove old trees is one of the hardest decisions we have to take here at Westonbirt.

Work is currently underway on what will become the new Wolfson Tree Management Centre. The new facility will provide all that Westonbirt’s expert tree team needs to manage the tree collection.

Today I ventured over to Silk Wood to see how some of the Tree Team were getting on with essential tree safety work, which reassuringly was being carried out to a high standard as always.

It's always sad to say goodbye to a big old tree like the oak we felled earlier this week near to the restaurant.

This week, work began on dismantling a large oak tree near to the Westonbirt Restaurant. Curator Mark Ballard explains why the decision to remove this much-loved tree was made.

Today I got to escape my office for a few hours, with the aim of finding suitable locations for some of the 300 young trees and shrubs that have been lovingly grown in our very own Propagation Unit.

As the summer draws to an end, I always start to think about our annual planting programme.

Last week saw the start of an exciting new research project that aims to discover new forestry tree species for the future.

Westonbirt Arboretum’s Director, Simon Toomer, and Superintendent, Mark Ballard, are currently in Japan for two weeks to collect seed from the wild.