New Wild Cherry Seed Orchards Established to Support Future Seed Production

To help address this challenge, Future Trees Trust has established two new wild cherry seed orchards, bringing together tree improvement, genetics and long-term planning to support future seed production.

The work forms part of the Trust’s ongoing efforts to improve the availability of high-quality, genetically diverse planting material for the forestry sector and reflects a growing focus on ensuring resilient seed supplies for future generations of trees.

Tackling a Seed Supply Challenge

Wild cherry seed availability has become increasingly problematic in recent years, prompting Future Trees Trust to investigate new approaches to orchard design and management. The Trust partnered with Ditchley Estate and Maelor Forest Nurseries to explore some of the biological factors that can affect seed production in wild cherry.

One of the challenges with wild cherry is that successful seed production depends on compatibility between individual trees. Like many fruiting species, some trees are unable to successfully pollinate themselves or closely related trees. Understanding these relationships is critical when designing seed orchards that can reliably produce large quantities of seed.

Using genetic analysis, Future Trees Trust assessed its collection of selected wild cherry plus trees to better understand compatibility across the population. This work was led by Future Trees Trust Senior Researcher Dr Domen Finžgar, who used the genetic information to design orchard layouts that maximise compatibility between trees and improve future seed production.

Planting cherry trees

The science behind this approach was explored earlier this year in Dr Finžgar’s article, Our First Genetically Informed Cherry Orchard Design Is Planted, which explained how genetic data was used to guide the arrangement of trees within the orchard. The project marked an important step forward in applying modern genetic tools to practical tree improvement.

From Genetics to the Ground

Building on this work, more than 700 wild cherry trees were grafted to create two new seed orchards. The orchards have now been established at Ditchley Estate and with Maelor Forest Nurseries, providing the foundation for future production of improved wild cherry seed.

The orchard established at Ditchley represents the first implementation of Future Trees Trust’s genetically informed orchard design approach. By carefully selecting and arranging genetically compatible trees, the project aims to increase orchard productivity and improve the availability of planting material for future woodland creation projects.

Supporting Future Woodlands

Seed orchards play a vital role in tree improvement. They allow carefully selected trees with desirable characteristics to contribute to future generations while maintaining genetic diversity across the population. For species such as wild cherry, where demand often exceeds seed availability, well-designed orchards can make an important contribution to long-term resilience and supply.

The new orchards will take time to mature, but the decisions made during establishment will shape their performance for decades to come. By combining practical forestry expertise with genetic data, Future Trees Trust is helping create the conditions needed for reliable future seed production.

The project also demonstrates how modern tree improvement programmes increasingly rely on scientific tools to support decision-making. Genetics can help answer questions that are difficult to resolve through observation alone, enabling better orchard design and helping maximise the value of long-term investments in tree breeding and seed production.

For Future Trees Trust, the establishment of these two orchards represents another important step towards securing diverse, resilient and productive planting material for future woodlands across the UK.