Somerset Acorn Project

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In January - March 2025 19,150 trees will be planted across 3.83 hectares in Somerset.

The planting is a very exciting ‘direct seeding’ project. Train Hugger have not funded a project like this before, so here's a little more detail about what 'direct seeding' involves:

The technique involves the planting of tens of thousands of acorns per hectare directly into the soil. After a couple of years the weakest whips are removed to give the stronger ones more light and space. This is a relatively new technique in the UK but has been used very successfully on the continent where they are routinely achieving stocking densities of 5,000 trees per hectare in years 10-15. In years 3-5 its not unusual to have around 10,000 trees per hectare.

Under direct seeding the land gets more trees than are ultimately needed, meaning you can select the strongest and healthiest (the ones most likely to survive climate change and attacks from pests and diseases). An additional benefit is that the taproot remains intact (because the trees aren’t lifted in a tree nursery and moved to the site) making them more drought resistant (also important in a changing climate).

Woodland Heritage (an awesome charity) are the people behind this project - Train Hugger are extremely proud to be involved, and thanks to all those who travelled to Massive Attack's brilliant gig in Bristol, which has helped fund this project.

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