Author: Max ColemanPage 1 of 10

Partners giving elm and apple a better future

March and April saw the completion of a marathon planting exercise by the Scottish Plant Recovery team to give a helping hand to two threatened native tree species…

Wilding Garden trials – small cow-wheat

The Garden is now being used as a test bed to explore some of the challenges and unanswered questions involved in returning threatened Scottish plants to wild sites….

Weeding moss

Weeding moss might sound like the endless battle that some people engage in to maintain their lawns and block paving in immaculate condition. Today I stumbled across a…

A second chance

Trees in general, and wych elms (Ulmus glabra) in particular, are being given a second chance in the dramatic landscape of Assynt. Land owned by both the community…

A homecoming in the Borders

My visit to assess the potential for wych elm (Ulmus glabra) planting on land owned by the Borders Forest Trust will pave the way for a homecoming of…

Restoring nature at Balmoral

As its winding course runs past Balmoral Castle the River Dee is flanked by a mix of farmland and woodland. Much of the woodland is composed of majestic…

Restoring salmon elms in Caithness

‘It’s not necessarily about fishing, just knowing the salmon are there is what matters’, explains Anson Macauslan, estate manager at Braemore & Langwell Estate, as he drives me…

Elm in its place

A story that is told in pictures alone is somehow very satisfying. Nobody needs to be a wordsmith to get the message across. When Chris Puddephatt sent me…

Translocating resilience

Assisting the migration of plants is something that has already been carried out in a limited way to help them respond to climate change. The concern is that…

Scottish Plant Recovery updates

Monthly updates on the progress being made to restore the fortunes of some Scotland’s most threatened plants are now available online. The updates, produced by the Garden’s Scottish…

Scottish Plant Recovery: August 2024 update

The seed harvest of the annual hemiparasite small cow-wheat (Melampyrum sylvaticum) has produced 50,000 seeds. To read the full monthly update click the ‘download’ button below.

Scottish Plant Recovery: July 2024 update

The marsh saxifrage (Saxifraga hirculus) is beginning its second season of flowering and is thriving in the ‘Cascade’ created to provide optimal conditions for its cultivation. Water temperature…

Scottish Plant Recovery: June 2024 update

Trial translocations of alpine blue-sow-thistle (Cicerbita alpina) at Mar Lodge Estate are thriving with over 80 per cent survival three years after planting. To read the full monthly…

Scottish Plant Recovery: May 2024 update

A trial translocation of blaeberry (Vaccinium myrtillus) plants with small cow-wheat (Melampyrum sylvaticum) seeds was carried out at RBGE. The purpose of the trial was to test whether…

Scottish Plant Recovery: April 2024 update

The Last Ent of Affric was voted Scotland’s Tree of the Year in 2019. This isolated ancient wych elm (Ulmus glabra) now has a new generation of young…

Scottish Plant Recovery: March 2024 update

Good germination of the native crab apple (Malus sylvestris) underway in the nursery at RBGE. To read the full monthly update click the ‘download’ button below.

Scottish Plant Recovery: February 2024 update

Aline and Martine visited Balmoral Estate to explore the potential for species translocation to the estate. To read the full monthly update click the ‘download’ button below.

Scottish Plant Recovery: January 2024 update

Max joined a community celebration event organised by the Assynt community and planted the very first plant in a wild site on land adjacent to the Little Assynt…

Scottish Plant Recovery: December 2023 update

DNA extraction and genotyping of wych elm (Ulmus glabra) is producing the first data on genetic diversity in this species that has been decimated by Dutch elm disease…

Scottish Plant Recovery: November 2023 update

The Scottish Plant Recovery work was presented at the BSBI conference on 4 November to around 200 delegates. To read the full monthly update click the ‘download’ button…