Elm population to be boosted

Plans are afoot to repopulate the nation with one of the countrys best-loved native trees.

The elm was almost wiped out by Dutch elm disease in the 1960s, but a handful survived the devastating plague, the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) reported.

Scientists are now hoping to establish why some trees had immunity to the illness and to use the information to help reintroduce them to areas around the country.

They have propagated saplings from the surviving trees and have enlisted the help of 250 schools around the country to plant them.

A total of around 10,000 will eventually be distributed around the UK and it is hoped that this will help make the elm a regular sight once again.

In other news, the RHS has revealed that a Welsh organisation is taking a unique approach to growing fruit and vegetables.

The Centre for Alternative Technology is using a woodland ecosystem as the basis for its food garden by mimicking the natural levels of canopy, mid-storey and under-storey.