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Scotland's Native Trees and Shrubs
Scottish native seed orchards
Many hardy nursery stock nurseries plant trees and shrubs on unproductive land to provide material for propagation. Could, in appropriate circumstances, roadside planting be used to establish Scottish native seed orchards? There are relatively large areas of roadside land that remain undisturbed for many years on which native trees could be planted for this purpose. Often these areas of land are within large interchanges or strips between new and superseded roads that run parallel with each other. These areas are usually planted with native species anyway. It is possible that such areas could be managed as seed orchards. The term 'orchard' would not require the trees to be planted in regular rows. They could be arranged to meet the landscape design requirements and be in accordance with locally distinctive natural characteristics. The management and operation of such areas would of course have to be subordinate to road operating/safety requirements. In the event that a particular area planted as a seed orchard had to be taken out earlier than expected little would have been wasted.
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