Planting Native Plants (PNP)

This project is now suspended for the 2021-2022 season and will re-start in Aug 2022 for the 2022-2023 season (with the lifting of bare root trees and shrubs commencing again in Oct/Nov 2022). Obviously any prices apply to the 2021-2022 season and they will be updated in Aug/Sep 2022 when new prices are known. However, the old prices are left in place to give potential participants an approximate idea of the range of costs.

Background

Native plants generally have a higher wildlife value than non-native species (also referred to as exotic or alien plants). By encouraging the planting of native plants we can help to enhance the wildlife value of the areas in which they are planted. That is the purpose of our Planting Native Plants (PNP) project!

What PNP is

PNP is essentially a not for profit bulk purchasing scheme for native plants. It involves the purchase of plant ‘bundles’ (typically of 25) from reputable commercial growers thereby achieving a discount on the price per plant cost. It does this by aggregating-up individual orders into lots of 25 plants, ordering the 25 and then breaking-up the individual orders accordingly.
PNP has existed outside of Transition Southampton as a not for profit Southampton based initiative for several years. It has supplied plants to participants in Soton, Hampshire, London and Essex. By operating under the banner of Transition, it hopes to reach a larger audience and encourage the planting of native species in the locality.

Above (left): A young single Guelder Rose shrub in flower. Above (middle  two): A small cluster of young Guelder Rose shrubs in early fruit. Above (right): An established Guelder Rose hedge clump in autumn fruit.

What PNP is not

PNP is NOT a plant or planting advisory or consultancy service – either one-off or ongoing. It is the participant’s responsibility to find out about the plants covered by the scheme and to plant any plants they may subsequently order and obtain.

Who Can Participate?

Any person, organisation or other entity. It makes no difference to the way the process works. Everyone is treated the same and on a first come first served basis. If an individual wishes to buy x10 plants, of a particular species, for their garden – that’s fine. If a community group wishes to buy x1 plant, of a particular species, for a plot of land that they manage – that’s fine too. The exact converse is also true.

Who are the Suppliers of the Plants and how are they Supplied?

The plants will be sourced from reputable commercial growers. Some are RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) accredited. PNP participants (outside of TS) have purchased from some of these suppliers for over 20 years. The plants are British grown.
The plants are supplied as bare roots from their nurseries in the autumn. Bare roots are the most cost effective way to buy good quality plants. It is the method used by many commercial planters. The growers typically assess and price their stock from August. They then begin to lift the stock from late October through to March (next year). If it is particularly cold or wet, lifting will be delayed. The suppliers operate their ordering system on a first come first served basis too. It is best to get the plants as early as possible (ie shortly after lifting starts) so they can be re-planted before winter – this gives them a better start. The suppliers expect payment in advance and PNP will require that too.
It is also important to remember that PNP will be competing with other purchasers across the UK for supplier stock. In 2020 PNP was able to obtain all of its’ initial orders. By the 2nd and 3rd orders – for particular species from particular suppliers – stock was sold out. Owing to past experiences with ‘bad’ suppliers, PNP is not prepared for Transition Southampton participants to be ‘guinea pigs’ for untested suppliers.

How to Participate

Within this webpage there are a number of links that provide more detailed information that help you to engage with the project. Essentially, you tell us how many of a particular species you want. Your request for that species is added to a list. When the list totals x25 plants for that species you are re-contacted to confirm participation and obtain payment. If payment is not provided, you will drop down or off the list. When all payments for a ‘bundle’ of x25 plants have been obtained by TS – the order with the supplier is made. If you would like to order please first download and read the files below explaining which plants are available, the costs, and how to participate. Then go to the bottom of the page and click on the “Place order” link.

Plants Available for Order in the 2021-22 Season

Common Beech Fagus sylvatica, Common Hornbeam Carpinus betulus, Common Hazel Corylus avellana, Guelder Rose Viburnum opulus, Wayfaring Tree Viburnum lantana, Common Hawthorn Crataegus monogyna, Blackthorn Prunus spinosa, Common Spindle Euonymus europaeus, Dog Rose Rosa canina and Field Rose Rosa arvensis. You can purchase any number of species and any number of plants within a species.

What is the Relationship between PNP and TREEmendous?

PNP (outside of Transition) and the very successful Transition TREEmendous initiative existed in parallel and, until recently, with no knowledge of each other. TREEmendous focused on nut and fruit trees. PNP has previously been involved with fruit trees (including the creation of orchards). However, in this instance – at least at the start – PNP as a Transition project will focus primarily on non-produce plants. Any plants that have a produce value to humans have been chosen because of their wildlife value in the first instance.
We hope you find this initiative interesting and wish to plant some native plants in your patch! Note that there is also a separate project called TREEmendous which is not run by Transition Southampton.

PS If you have requested information about this project, and haven’t received a reply, please look in your SPAM folder, just in case your email system has put our email in your SPAM folder. It has happened before. Thanks.