Charnwood Borough Council

Thorpe Acre in Loughborough has become the home of the much loved mistletoe - a plant which lives within the bark of trees. Local naturalist, Roy Campsall has identified a strain of mistletoe which existed in the old orchards of Thorpe Acre many years ago. It's believed to be an old English species.

Charnwood’s countryside parks expert, Mark Graham, says "If anyone would like to propagate mistletoe, take one or two berries and keep them until late February. If they go dry, simply re-hydrate them in water. Wipe the berry onto the underside of the bark of a branch of about two centimetres or more in circumference. After a year a little 'hand' should emerge with roots working their way into the bark, after a couple of years leaves should appear.
Mistletoe does little harm to trees because it has green leaves and photosynthesises to generate its own food."

For more information on this increasingly rare plant and how to propagate it in your garden visit www.charnwood.gov.uk