Woodland Crofter

Woodland Crofter Langamull Croft 1 is a 6 acre woodland croft created by the North West Mull Community Woodland Company. Andy Robinson

It is one of nine crofts within the 675 hectares purchased from the Forestry Commission under the National Forest Land Scheme in 2006. The Crofting Reform Act of 2007 paved the way for new woodland or forest crofts. These crofts on Mull are some of the first of this kind in Scotland. I became tenant at the start of 2014 and my aim is to regenerate this 6 acres of forestry clear-fell (formerly sit

ka spruce and hybrid larch) by planting native trees, creating a garden and tree nursery, and building living and work spaces.

Air layering aspen and Arran whitebeam today. I think it is a little late in the year but just trying a few. The trees a...
30/04/2026

Air layering aspen and Arran whitebeam today. I think it is a little late in the year but just trying a few. The trees are de-barked and painted with a little rooting hormone then encased in the plastic dome with some damp sphagnum moss or compost. Hopefully they will produce roots in the next few months and I can cut off the branch and create a new plant. Fingers crossed!

The rarest tree in the world? Catacol Whitebeam (Hedlundia pseudomeinichii) seedlings emerging. Only a very few seeds co...
30/04/2026

The rarest tree in the world? Catacol Whitebeam (Hedlundia pseudomeinichii) seedlings emerging. Only a very few seeds collected last year. Four germinated and one died. I'm working on a project with Woodland Trust Scotland to grow all three endemic Arran Whitebeam species for reintoduction to Arran in the coming years. With only one recorded specimen in the wild, the Catacol Whitebeam is the most precious. I have thousands of other trees in the nursery, but when I go in the polytunnel in the morning I head straight for these! 😀🌳

All the larger spring planting orders have gone out now but I still have a few packs of 15 alder, hawthorn blackthorn ha...
27/04/2026

All the larger spring planting orders have gone out now but I still have a few packs of 15 alder, hawthorn blackthorn hazel silver birch. I have all sorts of other bits and bobs too. Contact me if you want to have a look. Collection Langamull. I need to make some space for this years crop of trees! 😁🌳

A bit of heat now and the oaks in the tunnel are reaching for the sky! 😁
27/04/2026

A bit of heat now and the oaks in the tunnel are reaching for the sky! 😁

Pricking out the first tray of rowan today. Over the years I’ve tried all levels of cleaning and pre treatments to try a...
12/04/2026

Pricking out the first tray of rowan today. Over the years I’ve tried all levels of cleaning and pre treatments to try and improve germination. It’s one of the most difficult seeds to separate from the flesh. I’ve found it’s not worth the effort (for me anyway). This seed from 2024 was roughly mashed up then mixed with sharp sand and compost, then left out in all weathers until late winter this year. I brought it into the tunnel to dry out (from being totally saturated, not completely dry) and warm up and once a good amount of germination was underway, sowed the whole mix 5 - 10mm thick over a nice free draining mix with plenty of perlite. Quite a few weeds in there of course after a year and half outside. I prick out when most of them have true leaves, good lateral root development and are easy to handle. Inevitably there are quite a few very tiny seedlings with just the cotyledons but these will be alright if enough care is taken. Interestingly, today I noticed quite a few with three cotyledon leaves. It’s the kind of thing that entertains when doing repetitive tasks! The first tray yielded about 240 seedlings so I’m track for about 2000 in total. I’m always looking for the most efficient way to do things (just lazy!) and as is often the case… doing next to nothing proved to be the best thing!

Delighted to see some of the blackthorn (sloe) flowering this year. Just planted five years ago I think. I might even ha...
10/04/2026

Delighted to see some of the blackthorn (sloe) flowering this year. Just planted five years ago I think. I might even have a few sloes this year! Wild cherry flowering really well too. This is the third year they have flowered after planting in 2020. These trees of the prunus genus are important early nectar and pollen sources for bees. It's another milestone on the croft. 2026, the first blackthorn flowers! 😀🌳

I have a few hundred trees left for spring planting. Oak, alder, hazel, blackthorn , hawthorn , honeysuckle, a few other...
02/04/2026

I have a few hundred trees left for spring planting. Oak, alder, hazel, blackthorn , hawthorn , honeysuckle, a few others. Contact me if you need anything. Can possibly deliver Mull and North Argyll. 😊🌳

Olea europea. Just eight olives collected from the tree here, but after a cold/warm treatment over the winter they are g...
01/04/2026

Olea europea. Just eight olives collected from the tree here, but after a cold/warm treatment over the winter they are germinating! Second generation olive trees on the croft! 😁😍

The Arran Whitebeams I grafted onto rowan rootstock last year took really well so I'm doing a few more today. With less ...
26/03/2026

The Arran Whitebeams I grafted onto rowan rootstock last year took really well so I'm doing a few more today. With less than 300 in the wild this is a very rare and special tree! I will put a link the Wikipedeia which explains the three endemic Arran whitebeams and how they have arisen. It's all about apomictic reproduction! The trees produced from grafting will be clones of my stock trees I'm growing here in airpots. I have a very few seeds from the wild of all three hybrids collected last year. I don't expect them to germinate until next year, but these will increase the genetic diversity of what I have here and be grown on to create a seed and cutting orchard, ultimately to produce trees to plant back into the wild on Arran. This is part of a project I am working on with Woodland Trust Scotland. I feel very honoured to be involved! Explanation of the grafting process in the photos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arran_whitebeams
Arran Whitebeams are now reclassified as Hedludia, formerly Sorbus.

Seed trays filling up. Busy weeks ahead! 😊🌳
20/03/2026

Seed trays filling up. Busy weeks ahead! 😊🌳

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Tobermory
PA75

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