Finding places to field grow trees in the UK

[hidefrom_sun]

I got talking to a small holding around the corner from me. It seems promising. It's owned by an extended family for growing food, raising some cattle and generally having an outdoor space to enjoy.

I spoke to the owner and he seemed keen on allowing me to rent a small space to field grow trees. Even better, he seemed interested in allowing me to collect some trees from the property to eventually use as Bonsai. The woodland has been well managed - some cleared, some pruned and managed so there's a good mixture of meadows, young trees and mature trees. I have a feeling it might fall through and I don't want to message the guy until I'm ready to plant something and learn enough so I know how to remove a tree without killing it. I think joining a local club might be a good idea at this point.

If my current plan falls through have any of you from the UK found ground to field grow trees? I can't really get to where I want with the hobby without doing it and unfortunately I live on a property backing onto the Leeds/Liverpool canal so whilst it's stunning we have a patio in the back garden and no access to open soil front or back.

Allotments are out of the question because they would expect me to grow food on most of the land. I'm thinking about asking local urban farmers or land owners with space to spare. I've even thought about stealth growing native trees in places they won't be disturbed but that would be a weird one to talk my way out of with the police once it comes to digging them up.

I can buy nursery grown trees with suitable trunk diameters but it sucks the fun out of it and they look too well looked after to have any character. Plus they're pricey. Part of the enjoyment from this will be the years it takes to develop a suitable tree.

 

[Shibui]

Joining a local club is a great idea period. It is so much easier to learn from someone showing you an being able to ask questions to clarify any ambiguities than reading and guessing what that means.

The small holding near you sounds great. The owner is on board. It's close and the opportunity to collect is great. I would pursue that and maybe also look for other similar opportunities as backup in case something does fall through with the first property.

 

[hidefrom_sun]

Joining a local club is a great idea period. It is so much easier to learn from someone showing you an being able to ask questions to clarify any ambiguities than reading and guessing what that means.

The small holding near you sounds great. The owner is on board. It's close and the opportunity to collect is great. I would pursue that and maybe also look for other similar opportunities as backup in case something does fall through with the first property.

It would be ideal. I'm that tricky position where I don't want to pester him too much. I'll drop him a text in a month or two. It's literally a 5minute walk so I can check on them any time if we have a storm or a really hot spell.

Any ideas on the next best option to field growing trees? Would a pond planter be my next best option or making a meshed box or is it just two different ways to the same end goal?

Haha. I need some options because despite me promising myself I'm not buying anymore trees I drove past a nursery this morning I've not seen before I went in for a 'look around'. An hour later of funny looks I've ended up with a European Beech with some nice root flair and a Beni Maiko with some interesting trunk movement. Thank god the Birch trees were a little more than I was willing to pay.

 

[Wires_Guy_wires]

I've put a couple pines in the ground, later dug them up to put them in pond baskets. Which wasn't great.
If you can start with good fabric pots that last a long time, use them from the start. It will save you headaches later on.

 

[hidefrom_sun]

I've put a couple pines in the ground, later dug them up to put them in pond baskets. Which wasn't great.
If you can start with good fabric pots that last a long time, use them from the start. It will save you headaches later on.

Excellent I'll check that out as well and see what suits my need. Definitely sounds like the cheaper option.

 

[RoadManDenDron]

I do not mean this to sound harsh but it might come across that way!

While cheap material is great for the initial 'learning to keep things alive' stage

I would recommend, work out the average cost of your nursery spends so far, and every time you feel like buying more nursery stock, put that amount in a jar,

When you have a couple hundred, go out and buy a decent bit of raw material from actual bonsai people

Its a shame Doncaster finished because it was on your doorstep and there were so many awesome bargains to be had!

People are scrambling to replace it but alot of what's on offer is further south!

 

[hidefrom_sun]

I do not mean this to sound harsh but it might come across that way!

While cheap material is great for the initial 'learning to keep things alive' stage

I would recommend, work out the average cost of your nursery spends so far, and every time you feel like buying more nursery stock, put that amount in a jar,

When you have a couple hundred, go out and buy a decent bit of raw material from actual bonsai people

Its a shame Doncaster finished because it was on your doorstep and there were so many awesome bargains to be had!

People are scrambling to replace it but alot of what's on offer is further south!

Yeah I definitely agree with you. I think everything else I'm saving will go towards either something from a purpose grown nursery or a very large Japanese Maple of a nice cultivar to start taking air layers from.

EDIT: I am definitely at the learning to keep it alive stage as well so cheap suits me for now. Cheap also means I can mess around with air layering, find my feet with pruning and what not but I do agree with you. I'm itching for some impressive stock.

Either way - my trees aren't amazing specimens but I'm getting a lot of enjoyment from them between looking after them, diagnosing problems and... sometimes fixing them and raising cuttings it's a really peaceful pass time for me which is what I was after

I could even skip the JM mother tree. My brother has a 15-20 year old japanese maple, the trunk is 7-8inches in diameter and they've said I can take 3 or 4 air layers from it with 2inch trunks but I'll wait until I know I'm definitely skilled enough to not kill them. It's a really beautiful tree, with strong growth and despite just being left to do it's thing. It has small leaves even on the second flush this year and tight internodes. Bright red with a bright lime green trunk.

His wife said I can have what I want from it but it's such a beautiful tree I'm gonna be careful not to take anything that adds to the silhouette too much. I'm going to start another post shortly about it because I could end up with a few beautiful trees from it.

Lots of projects to stay busy with over next year! I might not have to spend a lot at all to be honest so I can get something interesting. Maybe that Dawn Redwood I've had my eye on.