Plant your acorn as soon as possible after you collect it from Wytham Woods.
Fill a plant pot with peat-free compost, and dampen it. If you don’t have a plant pot you could use e.g. a large yoghurt pot, but make sure to add drainage holes. Push the acorn into the compost, making sure that the pointed end faces upwards. Cover it with 2-3cm more compost.
Find a cool location in which to keep your acorn pot. A garage or shed is ideal, or an unheated spare room. To protect your acorn from squirrels, mice and birds, you can place a plastic bag over the pot and tape it down – but make sure there are air holes. You could also surround them with wire mesh.
Over the winter, make sure the compost doesn’t dry out completely. Your acorn will be busy growing roots, but it’s only in spring (possibly as late as May) that you will be able to see your acorn sprout. At this stage, gently water your seedling once or twice a week to prevent the compost drying out. It’s best to water from below and let the compost soak it up through the drainage holes.
In September 2024 your oakling should be ready to be brought back to Wytham Woods, where it will be planted in Bear Wood.
Let us know how your acorn is getting on by sharing updates with us, using the hashtag #WythamAcorn
You can collect your acorn from the Conservator's Office at Wytham Woods, or the Malthouse in Tidmarsh Lane, Oxford, between 10am and 2pm on the following dates:
Tuesday 6th Dec
Thursday 8th Dec
Saturday 10th Dec*
Thursday 15th Dec
Saturday 17th Dec*
*Collection on these dates is only possible from the Conservator's Office, Wytham Woods.
