After making significant strides in its transition to peat-free tree production using AirPot technology, Majestic Trees will be exhibiting several specimen trees at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival, taking place next week (2 – 7 July 2024).

Trials at the nursery have been ongoing for 12 years, with over 1,500 trees across more than 100 different genera, accounting for over 90% of the 500+ varieties grown at the nursery in 2023 and 2024.

The nursery says trials have been yielding promising results in some of the “most challenging” pot-grown tree species including Stewartia, Styrax, Cornus and Magnolia, the latter of which will be exhibited at RHS Hampton Court this year.

Steve McCurdy, managing director at Majestic Trees, comments on the process, saying:

“Growing large trees, peat-free, in AirPots – some as large as 5,000 litre – is not a straightforward process. It requires long-term trials, constant analysis, careful monitoring and new thinking that is taking time to perfect.”

Majestic Trees has been using AirPot technology to produce dense, fibrous root-ball systems that are not hidden behind rigid pots. Specimens now grown at the nursery using peat-free growing media require no additional watering or feed.

Peat-free trials lead at Majestic Trees, Ellen Underwood says that over the last three years the nursery has made some “really positive leaps forward”.

“We have invested in research and development into environmentally friendly wetting agents, bio-stimulants, mulches and adapted irrigation techniques, all with great success.”

Underwood adds that to produce “high-quality mature trees, with large root-ball systems suitable for transport, some of which are pot-grown for up to 20 years, we need to continue to innovate and be realistic about the future.”

To view the full range of trees available from Majestic Trees, visit majestictrees.co.uk or visit the Majestic Trees stand at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival 2024, Stand HC320 (Garden Avenue 1).