Leading growth at Council tree nursery

A horticultural specialist with international experience is bringing his skill set to a grow a Council biodiversity initiative.

Neil Rowlands has picked up the baton of Tree Nursery Officer to guide the growth of the Council’s site at Green Gates Farm, St Asaph.

The local provenance tree nursery at Green Gates Farm, St Asaph, aims to produce 5,000 native wildflower plants a year alongside 5,000 native trees.

This project has been funded by Welsh Government, through the Local Nature Partnerships Cymru ENRaW project and Local Places for Nature grant.

Already the team at the site is seeing the fruits of their labour with nearly 8,000 wildflowers grown on site during its first season.

Following the Council’s declaration of a Climate and Ecological Emergency in 2019, this project is part of an ongoing commitment to enhancing biodiversity across the county.

And Neil is bringing a wealth of experience to help the green shoots of the project grow strong.

He said: “I started off as a youngster while still at school working at my local Market Gardens, that’s where I got the love for the land and growing vegatables and sowing seeds, and learning about the soil. Everything was done the old fashioned way just using hand tools.

“Then I went into farming, I became a dairy herdsman for five years, I was looking after cows, tractor driving, using a wide range of machinery whilst here I went to college to sturdy agricultural Engineering. I did the course but it wasn’t for me being stuck in a workshop.

“I then decided I wanted to learn more about horticulture and was lucky enough to gain a position at the world famous Port Sunlight village on the Wirral owned by Unilever for its workers.

“This is where I gained all my horticulture knowledge and experience, as that time the whole of the village was having a major revamp horticultural wise with huge new planting schemes, hundreds of new trees being planted, it was amazing creating new landscapes for people to enjoy in the future.”

Following this posting, Neil then spent time honing his craft as a countryside ranger with Wirral Borough Council.

He explained: “In those days ranger work was very practical, we did all the vegetation management, this is where I gained all my tree qualifications including my tree climbing qualifications. I was with them for a long time as a ranger with the countryside estate team.”

Taking a break after working as a ranger, Neil immersed himself in setting up a private wildflower produce business which was very successful but he didn’t have greenhouses available to move it forward. He then took on a post that literally broadened his skills in dealing with challenges and working in difficult situations.

He said: “I gained a position at Chester Zoo and because of my tree skills and especially my tree climbing skills. I was asked to go to Borneo to help with the plight of the Orangutans being isolated in small pockets of jungle with a team of other climbers.

“We built rope bridges over roads and rivers so the Orangutans could move to other areas of the fragmented forest. It was an amazing experience seeing the Orangutans using the rope bridges we had built.

“I also went to India with the zoo, we were based in Assam to try and help with the human elephant conflict that they both suffered from. I had an incredible experience working with the native people in trying to solve their issues and also trying to help the elephants as well.”

Neil joined Denbighshire County Council in 2015 as the gardener at Plas Newydd , then gained a position as  tree inspector and finally now took on the role as the new tree nursery officer based in St Asaph.

Cllr Barry Mellor, Lead Member for Environment and Transport, said: “We are really pleased to have Neil on board to move our tree nursery development forward. His wealth of experience and skills, coupled with his passion is a fantastic boost for our goal in improving biodiversity across Denbighshire and I look forward to seeing the tree nursey grow under Neil’s capable hands.”