At Gagel farm we have a unique tree nursery, where we grow trees plastic-free in air prune boxes!

In our tree nursery we mainly grow woody plants for food production and forest and hedge plants. Most species are grown from seed and are genetically identical. We also grow a lot of trees from native certified seeds.

Air pruning (or pruning through air) is a method in which seeds germinate in a wooden box with a mesh floor. There is a space with air under that mesh. When the root of the germinated seed encounters the air space at the bottom of the box, it automatically stops growing. The plant therefore chooses to ‘prune’ the roots itself, so that they do not have to be damaged when harvesting the tree or shrub. The seedlings that come from the air prune boxes are therefore easy to transplant and have less difficulty growing after transplanting.

For species that propagate vegetatively on their own, we also use other methods such as cuttings, rootstocks or layering.

We can grow large quantities of seedlings to order in our nursery, around 10,000 pieces per species maximum (depending on the species and whether we have experience with it). Species that we have already grown are Alnus, Betula, Euonymus, Prunus and Corylus. Many other species have been sown this year and we hope to be able to add them to the stock list next year.

Are you curious about the stock list or can we grow a custom order for you? Contact daan@gagel.nl for more info.