Anyone planting trees, where timber is the primary objective, ought to be using the highest standard of planting stock available. When trees grow vigorously, producing straight stems with light branching, they are more likely to produce a profitable crop of high quality timber. Vigorous early growth gives quicker establishment, reduces weeding and cleaning costs and gives an economic advantage over trees of poorer provenance or quality.

The Forestry Commission has issued guidelines around the use of Forest Reproductive Material (FRM), which guide our work. There are four categories of FRM:

  • Source-identified FRM comes from general or specific locations within a single region of provenance or native seed zone with no specific superior qualities recognised.

  • Selected FRM is collected from stands showing superior characteristics, e.g. better form, growth rate, health.

  • Qualified FRM derives from the selection of superior individual trees which have not undergone any form of testing.

  • Tested FRM derives from the selection of individual trees or stands which have been evaluated for genetic quality or, in comparison to accepted standards, have been shown to be superior.

Future Trees Trust is working to bring Qualified and Tested FRM material to the market for some of our most important broadleaved species.

The following nurseries have all been supplied with silver birch and wild cherry seed, improved to Qualified standard. Each nursery grows its own supply of trees from the improved seed, which is supplied by Forestart Limited. These nurseries also Supply Qualified Silver Birch, Qualified Wild Cherry and Qualified Sycamore:

Maelor Forest Nurseries
Cheviot Trees

There is Qualified planting stock available for silver birch, sycamore and wild cherry. We are currently establishing seed orchards that will produce Qualified downy birch, pedunculate oak, sessile oak and sweet chestnut, and seed will be available in the next 5 – 10 years. Tested oak will also be available in the next 5 – 10 years.

Are you a nursery supplying and promoting improved trees from our improved planting material and want to be listed here? Get in touch to info@futuretrees.org

In 2021, wholesale seed supplies in the UK from improved stocks produced up to up to 2,000,000 saleable nursery plants. The carbon sequestration from these trees will be significant; possibly 180,000 tons of carbon over 25-30 years. With carbon sequestration valued At £7.00 to £20.00/ton, this will have significant value to anyone planting these trees.

As a direct result of our work, all the main UK forest nurseries are now growing saplings from improved material and in Ireland, the forestry planting grant system insists on the use of improved material whenever it is available.

In 2019, we planted the only National Archive of ash trees tolerant to the fungal disease ash dieback, which will provide ash planting stock in the future that is tolerant of this disease, ensuring that our native woodlands retain ash trees and all the associated biodiversity.

If you supply trees from our improved material and want to be included here, please get in touch to info@futuretrees.org