Welcome to Shelfanger Community Tree Nursery
South Norfolk's Local Community Tree Nursery
We are a team of volunteer tree enthusiasts who grow or grow-on and supply broadleaf trees of local provenance or disease resistance. We source seed from veteran trees across Norfolk to produce our saplings and we work closely with specialist research facilities and growers to offer our disease resistant elm and ash trees.
At a glance...
Shelfanger Community Tree Nursery in a nutshell
Locally sourced hedging
We grow and supply no-cost hedging plants to homes and farms within 2 miles of Shelfanger. Our hedging packs include cell grown hazel, hawthorn, blackthorn, rowan, oak and dog rose 20-40cm tall.
Disease resistant trees
We source, grow-on and supply disease resistant elm and ash trees. We work with research facilities and specialist growers to supply these very special trees into our local community. 100-250cm tall
Local provenance trees
We grow and supply English oak saplings from the seed collected from some of the oldest oak trees in Norfolk. Our oak saplings are between 20-50 cm tall and between 1-2 years old.
A small community tree nursery on a big mission..
Our primary goal is to make a difference to the number and quality of native trees and hedging being planted in South Norfolk, especially trees were numbers have been impacted by disease.
We do this in four ways...
We work with specialist growers and researchers
We focus our tree growing time on trees that deliver the greatest impact to Norfolk's biodiversity and landscape, so we continually seek excellence in our processes and partnerships.
Our seeds are of local
provenance
We always aim to grow trees with the strongest genetic qualities. To do this. we identify veteran trees as seed sources and we then work with the permission of the landowners to harvest seed from these trees. Do you have a tree of interest that we could collect seed from?
We focus on regionally appropriate trees
We supply trees that will thrive in Norfolk's climate and soils for years to come.
We champion community involvement
We are passionate about ensuring everyone has the opportunity to deliver a tree growing project and access the joy of planting trees. Why not join us by planting some trees?
How to buy our trees
We sell our trees to the local community through our pop-up shops and through orders sent directly through our website.
Our next pop-up tree nursery sale will take place on Saturday, 7th June from 10am to 2pm in the centre of Shelfanger (next to the bus stop). We look forward to meeting you there.
You can also message us to order trees here.
Grown with love
We supply four types of disease resistant tree elm
Lutece, Vada, Wingham and Ademuz
Ulmus 'Lutece'
LUTECE, is a complex cultivar combining four field elms and a selection of frost resistant Asian elms to produce an elm that is deemed to most closely resemble the native European elms.
The stem of Lutece typically forks at a height of 1-2m and the cultivar is quick growing in moist well drained soil. The leaves of Lutece flush fairly late and are not usually seen before mid May.
Ulmus 'Vada'
Vada, a cultivar which is one quarter Himalayan and three quarters European elm, has been cultivated to be a narrow tree making it highly suitable for street or avenue planting.
Leafing is late but not as late a Lutece. Vada displays high levels of disease resistance and some of the lowest level of wilting during inoculation trials. The Queen's Elm' planted on the main lawn of Holyrood Palace is an Ulmus Vada.
Ulmus 'Wingham'
Wingham, named after the village in the UK where it was successfully trialled, is a complex cultivar, combining four species of elm to create a highly resistant cultivar.
Wingham has a less regular folar formation and has been found to grow up to 1.9 meters per year. Wingham excels in fertile soils near river valleys but is less tolerant in clay and chalk soil.
Ulmus 'Ademuz'
Ademuz, discovered in 1996, is a pure Spanish ulmus minor (field elm) of which the English elm is a distinct variety.
Ademuz is considered to be one of the most attractive and resistant elm cultivars with leaf burst happening in late April. The tree is usually monopodial until to a height of five meters and has a medium foliar density.
Our Norfolk Oak Project
We aim to give away 500 English Oak saplings a year. We grow our oak saplings from seed collected from some of the oldest oak trees in Norfolk. Our oak saplings are between 20-40 cm tall when we give them away to people in the local community. Please contact us if you would like to participate in our Norfolk Oak Project.
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