Trees
for a
Purpose

Hillier Nurseries has one of the largest container tree nurseries in Europe dedicated to the production of top quality trees which can be planted all-year-round. The nursery is situated in Ampfield, near Romsey at the Hillier Group Head Office, Ampfield House and covers seventy-five acres, producing 25,000 container trees each year.

The size range reflects our field grown trees, between 10cm and 80cm girth. The vast majority of our container trees are produced in our fields in Hampshire. Trees are grown up to saleable size in the fields, lifted as bare-root or root-balls and potted into the appropriate container to root through for a minimum of one growing season.

Container grown trees can be planted all-year-round, thus extending the planting season beyond that of open ground stock.

Hillier Nurseries has, over the past few decades, pioneered the container tree revolution. Over this time we have initiated many new developments in container technology, embracing advancements and listening to our customers comments and feedback.

Hillier-handles Range
Trees that are between 10-12cm and 16-18cm are potted into Hillier-handles, either 40, 80 or 200 litre. The strong handles allow for easy manoeuverability around sites between two people.

The interweave has been specially designed to allow air and light to penetrate evenly around the container, encouraging fibrous rooting throughout, even at the base of the container. Water is also able to pass through the interwoven material for even drainage, this eliminates the need for water holes which can become blocked causing water-logging.

The ability of the material to 'breath' and allowing water to penetrate means all species root through well with no spiralling, thus giving the tree the best possible start. The advantages can be summarised below:-

• Plant out of season
• Strong handles for easy manoeuvering
• Peat-free compost
• Interwoven material - air for increased fibrous roots
• Interwoven material - light for vertical roots, no spiralling
• Black pots - absorbs warmth, helps trees to root through quickly
• Hillier quality trees

Spring-Ring/Air Pots
Trees which are 18cm girth or larger are containerised in "Spring-Rings". The container sizes range from 80 litre up to 1,500 litre.

Hillier Nurseries was one of the first tree nurseries to trial this Australian invention over a decade ago and now all of our semi-mature container trees benefit from this system.

We refer to the pots by their original name "Spring-Rings" and one great advantage is that they are 100% recycled on the nursery. At the time of despatch the Spring-Rings are removed and the root-ball protected by hessian and handled at the nursery and on site by mechanical means.

The walls of the pot are cuspidate like egg boxes. This prevents spiralling and instead guides the roots to the end of each "cusp". Each "cusp" is open ended which effectively prunes the root, as roots cannot grow in air alone. This act of pruning actively encourages new root growth further back, in the same way as pruning a shrub makes it bushy. This continuous process ensures a very quick development of a radial fibrous root system, with all the roots pointing outwards, poised to colonise its surrounds once planted out.

This system ensures the best possible chance for quick establishment of the trees when they are planted on site, which is reassuring when dealing with high value trees.

Table showing Weights and Measurements of Containers

Contract Potting
Hillier Nurseries offer a service to containerise stock for specific projects in accordance with our customers requirements. This is often carried out for projects which are planned to be planted out of season (i.e.April-October) or simply when the client wishes to ensure stock has the best possible chance of successful establishment. Trees up to 80cm girth can be containerised in custom-made pots to suit the constraints of the site. Below is a selection of major commercial projects which Hillier Nurseries has supplied with contract-potted containerised trees. For further information please contact
Caroline Swann,
email: carolineswann@hillier.co.uk or
telephone the Sales Office on 01794 368733.
 

Selection of Major Commercial Projects
Commonwealth Games Stadium, Manchester
Rose Bowl - Hampshire Cricket Club
Ministry of Defence Procurement HQ, Bristol
Mile End Park, London
Bullring Shopping Centre, Birmingham
Sprucefield Retail Park, Belfast
Law Hospital, Glasgow
 

Hillier Nurseries has, over the past decade, been involved in a very large number of major commercial projects which have involved contract potting. We would be pleased to offer this service to you for your project and would be happy to visit your offices to discuss your requirements.