Experimental garden ¶

Head: Gabor Reiss 

We support the research units with the planning, the setup and the execution of experiments. For the experiments we also take care of the necessary infrastructures, such as greenhouses, air-conditioned rooms, monitoring stations, tools and machinery. We also take care of the acquisition and the preparation of seeds for research purposes and for enriching seed banks. Moreover, we take care of the certified area, the arboretum, the internal green areas and the decorations. Furthermore, we assist with plants reproduction for scientific use and for promoting biodiversity. In addition, we follow apprentices and trainees. Finally, we monitor the experimental facilities on public holidays and on Sundays.

Consulting

The assistance and the consulting from the leaders of the forest garden and the cantonal forest services are very valuable to the experimental garden. Since there’s no specific training course for forest gardeners, targeted and individual support measures are needed when it comes to the reproduction of forest plants. 

Such exchanges with the professional world are very important and interesting for us, and they also offer us precious inputs and feedback. Occasionally forest apprentices, foresters and forest engineers doing an internship actively collaborate with the experimental garden. At a national level, the WSL experimental garden is one-of-a-kind. 

Seed brokering

In cooperation with the Advisory Service for Forest Reproductive Material of the Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, the Experimental Garden at WSL has established a national seed agency that offers forestry operations with high-quality seed from Swiss forests instead of foreign origins. The wide range of different provenances is intended to contribute to the conservation and promotion of rare tree and shrub species and to the preservation of genetic diversity in our country (biodiversity).

The project therefore also serves research in this field. The close cooperation with the private forest nursery operators yields mutual experience in the entire field of forest seed production.

An example is the seed collections of forest tree and shrub species presented in wooden boxes, which are very popular everywhere and can be ordered from the Head of the experimental garden