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Oaks at 80

80-year milestones. 

2025 marks 80 years since the end of the Second World War and Community Forests across the country are planning a special project, Oaks at 80, to commemorate this special occasion. 

Oak trees have traditionally marked 80-year milestones. 

The Oaks at 80 project will encourage local communities to collect acorns and other seeds from the local area, to plant up and grow into tree saplings.  

The trees grown by the local community will be planted in sites across the Mersey Forest in 2025.  

The seed gathering season traditionally starts on the autumn equinox (22 September) and lasts for about a month.

There are lots of resources about seed gathering on the Tree Council’s website.

We plant thousands of trees each year and we would love to plant the trees that you have grown. Following The Tree Council’s guide, in spring, when you check to see if your seed have germinated, rather than planting your seeds in the ground why not let us plant them for you at a site somewhere within the Mersey Forest? 

If you would like to be involved, follow the steps below and get in touch. We’ll let you know details of a local drop off point to take your saplings for us to grown on for the following winters’ planting season. 

  1. Collect and gather large yogurt pots or large plastic containers and put some small holes in the bottom. Fill these with two-part peat free compost and one-part sharp sand mix and make a hole in the middle of the soil with your finger 
  1. Empty your acorns from their large pot and find the ones that have roots or a shoot on them and put them in hole you’ve made in the soil 
  1. Cover the acorn lightly with soil and gentle press it down before watering thoroughly 
  1. Put the pots back against a cold north facing wall to germinate further, keep them well watered while they carry on growing 
  1. Once you have all your seeds potted on, contact us and we will let you know where you can drop them off locally for us to grow them on to be planted in the next winter season.