Technical Services - Nurseries

 

These activities include:

Technical Services Unit (TSU) manage two nursery complexes which are located at the Bush and Alice Holt Field Stations. Both sites have intensive and extensive facilities and a wide range of activities are undertaken for Forest Research scientists and external customers.

• Collection, preparation and sowing of seed
• The raising and maintenance of plants for use in experiments
• Rearing and subsequent utilisation of rootstocks for grafting
• Vegetative propagation through root or shoot cuttings
• General care and maintenance of experiments, including the application
  of unusual or highly specific regimes such as, light, irrigation, nutritional, chemical or physical.
• Preservation of genetic material in stock-beds

Nursery facilities

Bush

The main nursery covers an area of 2.2 hectares containing eight polytunnels, three sheds for storage and preparation and an area for lining out bare root stock or preparing seedbeds. A field nursery close by extends to 3.5 hectares and contains seven glasshouses, seven sheds, twelve polytunnels, a cold-store and standing areas for potted trees.

Alice Holt

The Intensive Nursery is sited at Alice Holt Research Station and covers an area of 1.5 hectares. A wide range of facilities include nine polytunnels and four glasshouses. All have irrigation systems and many have heat,light, mist and other services installed. There is a dedicated preparation room and potting shed and a number of sheds for storage of materials and equipment.

The extensive Headley Nursery is situated some five miles from Alice Holt on a heathland site. The 6.0 hectare nursery has recently been improved to ensure all sections can be irrigated simultaneously. As well as being used for  raising plants and field-nursery experiments the site is also used for field trials requiring close control of treatments. Headley is also home to a large collection of poplar clones which are maintained as vegetative stool beds. A range of buildings include preparation room and cold-store.

Contact

Bush

Dave Clark
Technical Services Unit
Forest Research
Northern Research Station
Roslin
Midlothian EH25 9SY

Tel: 0131 445 2176
Fax: 0131 445 5124
Email: David.Clark@forestry.gsi.gov.uk

Alice Holt

Mark Oram
Technical Sevices Unit
Alice Holt Lodge
Farnham
Surrey GU10 4LH

Tel: 01420 526229
Fax: 01420 520558
Email: kate.harris@forestry.gsi.gov.uk