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The Team
Acorn Collection & Germination
Here at Dalkeith Country Park, in late autumn, the Park Rangers set out on an acorn collection excursion. Green nets are set out on the woodland floor in order to catch falling acorns from our ancient, veteran and notable oak trees. See more here.
Last autumn when the leaves were golden and the acorns were abundant, the team started planting our own acorns collected from the Old Oak Wood. We have been overjoyed with the success of our D.I.Y. cold frames with many of our acorns having germinated.
Woodland Diversity
The Park Rangers have collected a mix of both English and Cecile oak, which will provide a huge benefit to the woodlands across The Park.
One of the benefits of collecting the acorns from the old woodlands is that we are able to plant these oak trees straight into the SSSI. This will help to provide diversity in the age of the woodland.
The Old Oak Woodland is precious because it has rare species of beetles and lichen living in it. That’s what makes it a Site of Special Scientific Interest and it’s why we want to keep it beautiful for generations to come.
A Heritage Tree Hotspot
Dalkeith Country Park has been revealed as a heritage tree hotspot after experts recorded 500 ancient, veteran and notable oaks over the last year.
Ten Woodland Trust Scotland volunteers took to The Old Oak Wood to complete the marathon mission. Over the course of 14 recording days, the volunteers had to measure, photograph and log exact GPS locations of these heritage trees.
More than 500 trees were recorded, nearly all of them stunning and characterful pedunculate oaks. 100 were deemed ancient, 300 veteran and 100 notable.
Saplings for Sale
There has been acorn success at The Park this year with the Park Ranger’s selling a limited supply of both English and Irish oaks within Restoration Yard. The hope is to have another successful germination period over winter in the cold frames so that more of the Old Oak Wood saplings will be available to purchase next year.
Buying and planting these small trees, around the country, is a fantastic way to get involved with conservation and rewilding.