The objectives for this partnership between Rick Worrell and Falkland Stewardship Trust, was to collect scion material from wild apple trees in western Scotland, produce grafted plants, and establish 2 small seed stands from these. The trees were previously verified to be wild apple by DNA analysis at Royal Botanic Gardens Edinburgh (RBGE).

Outcomes

Scion material from 43 trees known to be true wild apple was collected during winter 2022, from the Galloway coast to Dundonnell, Wester Ross. The scions were dispatched to Forestart Ltd. in Shropshire for grafting which was successful, with 4-7 grafted seedlings produced for each tree. The wild apple seed stands are going well. In Scotland there is one planted at Glen Finglas by Woodland Trust, comprising 80-odd trees from western Scotland; and another one planted by Forest and Land Scotland at their Newton Nursery near Elgin, with trees from eastern Scotland. There is also an initiative to plant a local seed stand for trees in Galloway.