Project 2: Dedicated Oak Orchards to Increase Oak Stocks

Future Trees Trust is working with Earth Trust and The Sotterley Estate, in Suffolk to develop two dedicated oak orchards for pedunculate oak (Quercus robur) and sessile oak (Quercus petraea) trees– the first of their kind in the UK.

Leading the project, Future Trees Trust will identify and manage trial sites at both Earth Trust and The Sotterley Estate.

The project will begin with the thinning of the trial sites in order to remove brash and other oak species to produce single-species orchards. Future Trees Trust will develop rogueing strategies (a process of selecting genetically favourable trees, and marking out those that do not fit for thinning/removing). Using the data collected across the entire progeny trial series, a desk study will design individual rogueing strategies for each site that sets out which trees will be removed over several rounds of thinning to produce Tested seed orchards.

The orchards will continue to be monitored as increased thinning will be necessary to maintaining large open crowns for flower and acorn development.

The creation of single species trial sites will enable the orchards to be placed on the Forest Reproductive Material (FRM) register.  We will further thin these progeny trials, removing a small percentage of the poorest performing families.  We will also look at individual tree performance by family, again removing the poorer performers in terms of vigour and form.  We will then calculate genetic gains which will increase with increased thinning, without compromising levels of genetic diversity.

This project aims to significantly contribute to the maintenance and restoration of resilient, healthy species of oak stocks across the UK, while also contributing to learning about techniques for managing and planting new woodland.

The quantities of tested acorns available to industry will increase as the trees grow and mature.