Back to School:
Now that the new school year has started it's time to make sure your seedlings have survived the summer holidays.
If yours are doing well, they should look as healthy as the specimens in our pictures.
Pine, alder & birch seedlings
The alder and birch were grown at the Forestry Commission's nursery in Delamere.
The pine was grown in the greenhouse of the photographer who took these pictures.
The sizes of the seedlings in these photos are quite good, though the pine may be a bit above average.
Certainly two boys Ben (left) and Finn were surprised how big the seedlings were when they visited a Forestry Commission nursery.
Don't worry if your plants aren't as big as these - as long as they're healthy that's all that counts.
In fact, if you've had your plants outdoors, or you haven't fed them as much, they may be a bit smaller.
The thing to do now is keep feeding them until autumn is upon us. If you haven't separated out the seedlings in your pots yet, please do it now.
Make sure you do it carefully so as not to damage any growth and put them in something big enough to last until planting.
Trees don't all grow at the same rate and, in some case, you may find that your pine seedlings might not be ready to plant out until next year, perhaps next autumn.
IMPORTANT
What your school needs to be thinking of now is where you're going to plant the trees when you take them out of their pots.
Few schools are going to have the space for these seedlings to grow into fully-fledged trees, so - as we suggested at the very beginning - think of which businesses or organisations in your area can take on the care of your tree.
What you need is an organisation that has a bit of green space and, ideally, a groundsman or gardener who looks after the planting.
So, for example, you might approach councils, parks, sports clubs that have training areas fenced by trees, big supermarkets or housing developments...the list is endless.
BUT PLEASE make sure you do it through your teachers so your school's requests are co-ordinated.
