"Alan Holmes" wrote in
:

He is trying to
grow
wild and native trees and shrubs for his 2 acres of organic bird
friendly garden. He wants to avoid using peat but found coir too
fickle (either
soggy
or bone dry).

Oak trees should be grown outside all the time, it is wrong to try to
grow them
in sheltered conditions.

And they don't need peat or coir compost either! I plant native trees and
shrubs in a shovelful of ordinary soil, if growing in a pot for
convenience, and then just leave outside. They grow like mad.

Maybe in a shady spot in the greenhouse over the winter, if something
particularly prone to slugs or infestation, but definitely nowhere heated.

However, if he wants really native shrubs, you might want to suggest he
just doesn't mow the borders for a year or so, then goes round with a
trowel moving the resulting saplings to the right places.

My garden is full of hawthorn, hazel, oak, holly, elder and ash seedlings
that have found their own way the I have no idea where the oaks come
from, as the nearest oak tree is some distance away, but the hazels are
self-seeding from the hedgerows, ash arrives by wind-power, and I'm fairly
sure the elder, hawthorn and holly are delivered by bird-power!

My problem is keeping the damn things down: I have enough trees already.

Victoria