Little Assynt Tree Nursery

Run by Scottish Wildlife Trust, the Little Assynt Tree Nursery produces trees and shrubs from native stock, to be used in native woodland schemes within the  CALL partnership area and elsewhere in the North-West Highlands.

Seeds collected in local woodlands are ideally suited to the soil and climatic conditions of the area. Growing locally sourced native seed ensures provenance and encourages healthy growth. Planting our saplings will help improve your woodlands and create new woodlands which are robust and healthy.

Species under cultivation include oak, birch, rowan, hazel, Scots pine, juniper, dwarf birch, holly and wych elm.

Currently the nursery produces around 60,000 trees per year, and aspires to increase this output to around 120,000.

For tree sales or queries regarding the Tree Nursery, contact Manager Nick Clooney on 01571 872010 or email nclooney@coigach-assynt.org

 

DOWNLOAD THE 2023-24 PRICE LIST HERE

 

Looking for volunteering opportunities? Contact Nursery Manager, Nick Clooney, to help us accomplish this challenging and ambitious task.

 

Nick at the Little Assynt Tree Nursery

Contact us

01571 872 010

nclooney@coigach-assynt.org

 

Little Assynt Tree Nursery

Little Assynt Field

IV27 4HB

Humble beginnings

A lack of reliable sources of trees with a local provenance led Coigach and Assynt Living Landscape (CALL) to develop a local tree nursery, which officially opened in October 2012.  Culag Community Woodland Trust made available an area of land at Little Assynt Field, five miles east of Lochinver.

Planning permission was granted in 2012 and funding was confirmed to allow a Tree Nursery Manager to be appointed. Nick Clooney from Achiltibuie had the ambitious and complex task of establishing the nursery from scratch (in a field with a great view, with no mains water or power!) with the goal of making it financially self-sustaining in three years. No mean feat!

A local contractor levelled the site, installed drainage and prepared it for the tunnels and shed to go up.  Two large polytunnels were erected and a timber-clad shed was constructed. The shed serves as a store, office and tea-room for Nick and volunteers, who come and help out at the nursery, or with seed collection in the surrounding area.

The first seeds were sown in 2013, some trees being grown in soil-beds and some in root-trainer cells.  Outdoor beds have since been established for sowing and lining-out seedlings to grow on to saleable size. The first rowans were offered for sale at the Assynt Games in Lochinver in 2013, with CALL staff selling trees at other highland games events, fairs and shows.

The eventual goal of the nursery is for it to become a viable business and to sustain quality rural jobs.  An added benefit is as a focus for a variety of community activities, involving young and old.

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