Dunniemann seed beds for young trees
This article was supplied by Bill Rayner, Tibbermore who comments:
‘I used the beds when in my Isle of Man Forest Lands and Mines Board OND middle year, I don’t know if it was used or trialled in Scotland.’
This process of growing seed in raised beds consisting of composted conifer needles and forest floor debris would almost certainly have been used in some of Scotland’s nurseries at one time. The writer does remember the subject of Dunniemann Beds arising during lectures at Benmore Forester Training School around 1963-65. At the time any reference to mycorrhiza has not been remembered but it would be surprising if these fungi did not have some significant effects. The draw backs were the high costs of setting up the beds and were unsuitable for the process of mechanisation which gather pace after the 1960s along with major improvements in availability of chemicals for weed control and soil sterilisation.
The writer well remembers the difficulty experienced in Dornoch Forest Nursery of growing alder species from seed with very poor germination and lack lustre growth of any seedlings until root nodules of the species were collected from mature trees, crushed, and applied to the seed and transplant beds. Thereafter there was a very marked improvement with very high germination and growth rates.
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