Sandwich Community Tree Nursery

08/10/2026

Great to see this little native crab apple doing so well. 🍎🌳

Grown at Sandwich Community Tree Nursery and planted out into a local wood in winter 2025, it’s now around 5 years old, has settled in brilliantly and is already developing a lovely spreading shape.

As it grows, the crab apple will provide blossom for insects in spring and fruit for birds and mammals in autumn.

I’m especially interested to see what happens when it starts producing crab apples.
Hazel dormice are known to eat apple in captivity, but there seems to be surprisingly little information about whether wild dormice eat crab apples. As there are dormice in the wood, it will be interesting to see whether they make use of them. 🐭🍎

For now, it’s great to see how well it’s settling into the woodland, and it will be interesting to watch it grow and develop in the years to come. 💚

06/10/2026

🌱 A little behind-the-scenes seed work at SCTN…
These are guelder rose seeds, cleaned from locally collected berries and now being prepared for propagation.

These little seeds are in no hurry — guelder rose has quite a complicated dormancy.
The seeds need a period of warmth followed by a period of cold to help break that dormancy before they can germinate. Even then, germination can be spread over quite a long period, with some seeds not appearing until the second spring. 🌱

Guelder rose is one of the native shrubs we grow at the nursery, and raising plants from locally collected seed means we can gradually build up more young stock for future planting projects.

It’s a long game, but hopefully some of these tiny seeds will eventually become the next generation of guelder roses at SCTN. 🌱🌳

03/10/2026

🍁🍂 Autumn colour is starting to arrive at the tree nursery!
Our young guelder roses are beginning to change, with some gorgeous reds and pinks appearing across the leaves. They might still be little plants, but they’re certainly putting on a good autumn display. 🌱🍁

Guelder rose is one of the native shrubs we grow at SCTN, and it’s a great all-rounder for wildlife too. Its clusters of white flowers attract pollinating insects, followed by bright red berries that can provide food for birds later in the year.

Soon these little ones will lose their leaves and settle down for winter, before getting going again next spring.

For now though, we’re enjoying the colour 🍁🌳

21/09/2026

A little visitor to the SCTN tree nursery. 🐛🌳

I spotted this rather striking caterpillar on one of our young crab apples last week.

It looks to be a young Oak Eggar moth caterpillar (Lasiocampa quercus). The caterpillars change quite dramatically as they grow, and the younger stages can be confused with other eggars, including Pale Eggar. The time of year fits too, as young Oak Eggar caterpillars can be found from around September and overwinter before continuing to feed and grow in spring.

Despite the name, Oak Eggar caterpillars feed on a wide range of plants, including hawthorn, blackthorn, bramble, willow and hazel.

Like many hairy caterpillars, the hairs can cause skin irritation in some people, so it’s best admired without handling.

One caterpillar isn't a concern for the nursery, so this one is staying exactly where it is.

There’s plenty of hawthorn around the nursery, and it’s rather nice to see that the nursery isn’t just producing trees, it’s already providing habitat for other native species too.

The adult moths are rather beautiful too, and the difference between the sexes is striking.
Males are smaller and a rich reddish-brown, with a broad yellowish band across the wings, while females are considerably larger and much paler, with a warm golden-buff colouring.

15/09/2026

🌱 A little update on one of the batches we’ve been growing on…

Some of the many native Spindle seeds (Euonymus europaeus) I collected two years ago were given the usual warm-then-cold stratification treatment to help break dormancy — taking up prime fridge space for what felt like forever. 🤣

I had to go back through my records to remind myself exactly what treatment Batch 33 went through, which is one of the reasons keeping notes on seed collection and propagation is so useful.

Once sown, Spindle can be slow and a bit erratic to germinate, so I more or less left the tray to get on with it.

When I finally cleared away the weeds, I was really pleased to find a good crop of healthy seedlings underneath.

They’ve now been potted on into root trainers to grow away properly and should be ready to plant out in a year or so.
They’re caged too, so hopefully the slugs and snails won’t get to them first! 🌱🐌

Spindle is a lovely native shrub/small tree and a useful addition to hedgerows and woodland-edge planting, with flowers for insects, striking autumn colour and those unmistakable pink-and-orange fruits.

And with this year’s Spindle fruits starting to ripen, it’ll soon be time to start gathering the next batch of those little orange gems of seed. 🌿🩷🧡

13/08/2026

A little more Wild Marjoram for the woodland 🌱🐝
The Wild Marjoram (Origanum vulgare) seedlings we’ve been growing are coming along really well.

These are destined mainly for one of the open glades in our woodland, where we’re gradually adding more native flowering plants to increase the diversity of the ground flora and provide more nectar for bees, butterflies and other pollinators.

A few may also find their way into the meadow patches in our lawn at home.

They’re still growing on for now, but hopefully next summer some of these little plants will be flowering in the woodland and meadow. 🌿🦋🐝

08/07/2026

🌿 Growing the next generation of Guelder rose

The trays of this native shrub, grown from seed collected locally in 2024, is looking really encouraging.

They've been a lesson in patience.

Before they even germinated, the seeds had to spend time in the fridge to give them the cold spell they need before they'll wake up. They also managed to take up valuable w**e and cheese space for several months...
The second photo tells the real story – look at those roots.

Although the plant above ground is still quite small, it's already developed an impressive root system. That's exactly what we want to see before planting it on into a root trainer and, in a year or two, into its permanent home.

Strong roots give young shrubs the best chance once they're planted out, especially with the dry springs and summers we've been seeing.
We naturally look at the leaves, but most of the hard work is going on underneath.

We'd also love a few more back garden growers. If you've got a bit of space and don't mind looking after a tray of young native shrubs for a year or two, we'd love to hear from you. We provide the plants, pots and advice – you just provide the care.

A huge thank you to all our back garden growers who've been looking after trays like these.

Every one of these little plants started life as a locally collected berry and, with a little more time, will produce creamy white flowers that are loved by pollinating insects, followed by bright red berries that provide an important autumn and winter food source for birds such as blackbirds, thrushes, fieldfares and redwings. They also add valuable structure and shelter to our hedgerows and wildlife habitats.

💚 If you'd like to help grow the next generation of native trees and shrubs for Sandwich, we'd love to hear from you.

13/06/2026

A lovely and very well-deserved recognition for Jon Stokes, whose work with The Tree Council has supported so much community tree work, research and local volunteer action across the country, including the Tree Warden network and people caring for trees where they live. 💚🌳

25/05/2026

📆 The Community Tree Nursery Collaborative 'Open Space' session for CTNs, Tuesday 26 May 2026 at 6:30 PM.

The CTNC Open Space sessions are a place for CTNs to build community in an informal setting. Ask questions, share resources and collaborate. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced grower, this is a great chance to ask questions and network with other CTNs.

Register soon because space is limited.
👇 The Community Tree Nursery Collaborative 'Open Space' session for CTNs

The CTNC Open Space sessions are a place for CTNs to build community in an informal setting. Ask questions, share resources and collaborate.

20/05/2026

🌱🌳 A significant update for community tree nurseries last week was the announcement that the Community Tree Nursery Network (CTNC) will move from Fellowship of the Trees to The Tree Council from 5th June 2026.

This feels like a really positive step for the long-term future of the network and should help support the continuation of the valuable work already happening across the CTNC community — including Open Space Sessions, webinars and site visits.

Community tree nurseries play such an important role in local resilience, education, biodiversity and community involvement, so it is encouraging to see continued support for the network as it develops.

It will be interesting to see where the next stage of the CTNC journey leads.