New venture Elsoms Trees unlocks potential of woodland creation
5th August 2022
The launch of Elsoms Trees is set to boost the supply of broadleaf seedlings to the UK market, through increasing the supply of in-demand tree species from difficult to source provenances.
Leading independent seed breeder Elsoms Seeds has invested in Proven Plants, creating a jointly-owned business with the Shearer family now named Elsoms Trees. This brings together the knowledge and experience of Proven Plants with the capabilities, support, and structure of Elsoms Seeds.
Under the direction of Rodney Shearer, Elsoms Trees will bring new technologies to the woodland creation sector and produce seedlings of harder to grow species. The experience and knowledge of the new team will result in Elsoms Trees becoming a major contributor in helping the UK government achieve its ambitious goal of 30,000ha of new woodlands and forests per year by 2025.
“We’re excited to develop and increase our capabilities in how we support our customers by using the skills and technologies that Elsoms provide.” Says Rodney Shearer, managing director at Elsoms Trees.
“With Elsoms’ strong heritage working with seeds and Proven Plants’ knowledge and experience of the woodland and forestry industries, I know that Elsoms Trees will become the go-to supplier for trees where provenance matters.”
The woodland industry has increased its focus on the provenance of trees in recent years, with the importance of more native woodland being addressed by successive governments. As the demand for native trees with UK provenance increases, so does the pressure on the supply chain. Elsoms Trees aims to address these problems by focusing on increasing the quantity of broadleaf trees and increasing the range of UK provenances.
Elsoms Seeds has been involved in generating high quality seed to UK growers for over 100 years. An independent business throughout its history, Elsoms has built a reputation for honesty, reliability and quality.
Proven Plants was founded by Craig Shearer who, alongside father Rodney, have a combined experience of 60 years in the tree nursery sector. Both have become well respected across the industry for their knowledge and ability in seed collecting, plant raising, and woodland creation.
