Trees: from nursery to independence in the landscape

BS 8545 Trees: from nursery to independence in the landscape – Recommendations, has been launched by BSI Group, to help safeguard infant trees and to increase their longevity. They say:

“Currently a large number of trees in the urban environment are dying too soon after planting, and, according to the Department of Communities and Local Government’s Trees in Towns II Report, the loss rate stands at 25%.

“To combat this problem and also to address the fact that, to date, there has been a lack of cohesive standards covering tree specification and transplanting, the new standard was developed. BS 8545 offers a sound understanding of good practice and is a comprehensive and up-to-date information resource. It enables the user to carry out quality decision-making in a range of different situations.”

Such situations include:

• Design and strategic intentions
• Individual site constraints and requirements
• Nursery availability and quality of tree stock
• Budget size and maintenance schedules

Allowing Young Trees Reach Full Potential 

Keith Sacre MICFor, who was the lead author on the BS 845 publication, said:

“The beauty of a standard such as BS 8545 is that it describes a method of planting for young trees that will allow them to reach their full potential and to deliver the benefits that they were planted for in the first place. The standard can help do this logically and systematically without excessive or abnormal input from management.”