From litte things................

Inspired from Dave's Blip yesterday of his MASSIVE chestnut tree, I had to take a look at my little seedlings. I collected the conkers last autumn at the tree in the forest that I have often Bliped next to the foresters/hunters hut.

Normally I then go home and spread the conkers & also acorns, all around our garden in the external hedge borders. Not sure if they ever have taken but at worst a squirrel or deer may discover them as food! But this time I left the conkers in the (empty!) dog-poo bag I collected them in and left it inadvertently in the car boot all winter. When I had to get the car MoT done in March, cleared everything out and discovered the chestnuts were  sprouting roots, seemingly the plastic bag maintaining just enough moisture. So took a selection of 15 and popped them in pots and low and behold, 12 (so far) have now emerged.

I would love to give them a fighting chance of growing into something bigger but not yet sure how best to go about it. I doubt planting them in the hedges at this stage will work, and I am considering digging a trench somewhere safe to let them grow in a "Tree Kindergarten" for a few years. A bit worried that simply growing in pots will result at some time in forgetting to water them, and they will be lost. Any views?