In Memoriam: James Harris (1933–2025)

The IOS received the sad news that longtime member James Harris died on 29 September 2025. He had celebrated his 92^nd birthday a week before. James was a keen nurseryman and was responsible for helping start many oak collections, introducing many rare oaks into cultivation. In the Cultivated Oaks of the World database established in 2016, which pooled data of many oak collections around the globe, over 250 accessions were noted to have been sourced from James's Mallet Court Nursery, many dating to the early 1990s. He always enthusiastically supported the International Oak Society, and many will recall him at our events. Above all he was a charming gentleman with a wealth of knowledge: he will be missed and long remembered.

In 1978, James and his wife, Primrose, took over the running of a former nursery at Mallet Court, near Taunton in Somerset, in the southwest of England. The former owner had specialized in growing maples, and James continued in this tradition for a few years, but became increasingly concerned that this was too narrow a specialism. He decided to diversify, to offer a range of rare and interesting trees and shrubs, but with a particular emphasis on oaks. It is a genus that he knew very little about at first, but a combination of an enquiring mind and the support of new friends from the world of trees allowed him to make rapid progress. He joined the IOS in 1994, and this opened up new opportunities for him. He was a regular contributor to the Society’s newsletters and participant in our Conferences, Tours, and Oak Open Days.

Progress was so swift that in 1995 the nursery exhibited over 120 different oaks, and a small collection of oak products, at the Royal Horticultural Society Chelsea Flower Show.  It won a gold medal at the first attempt. This was to be the first of many premier awards gained at exhibitions in the UK and abroad.

To bolster the collection, James and Primrose travelled widely, mostly in the USA and the Far East. In the early days, it was not at all certain that oaks from continental climates would grow well in the cool, damp maritime regime of the southwest of England, and there were some failures, but they were few compared to the successes. James was very much a pioneer in the introduction of exotic oaks to Britain.

He also had to learn from scratch the best methods of raising young stock in an environment that wasn’t particularly benign. The nursery soil is a heavy marl overlying limestone, with a pH of 7.5 to 7.6. Open growing wasn’t really an option, with challenging mouse, rabbit and deer populations as well as the poor soil, so the decision was taken to concentrate on container growing. Even this had its challenges, particularly with depredation of the acorns by mice, but gradually experience overcame these. At its height, the nursery offered a little over 100 taxa in the genus Quercus, mostly raised from seed, and about one third of the oaks grown were exported, to continental Europe, Ireland, and as far as Argentina. Unfortunately, exports to other European countries were curtailed as a consequence of the UK’s leaving the European Union.

After 40 years of growing oaks in pots, in 2017 James decided to plant some oaks on land adjacent to the nursery. This first planting comprised 48 oak taxa. There was very little rain in this part of the country in the young trees’ first growing season, with severe cracking of the soil, but most of the trees survived and thereafter grew well. Meanwhile, 2018 saw unprecedented demand for oaks from the nursery, including from Ireland and Italy. James was concerned that he would not be able to meet the growing demand, especially for rare species, and asked IOS members for help with procuring acorns of Q. dolicholepis, Q. myrsinifolia, and Q. oglethorpensis, among others.

Also in 2018, James received the IOS Lifetime Achievement Award. The nomination, prepared by Roderick Cameron, read: “James has been an active member of the IOS since the early years (1994) and has supported the promotion of oaks through his specialized Mallet Court Nursery in the UK. He has provided oaks to many collectors, and many major collections had their first oaks from him. Mallet Court plants were usually available as seedlings, in contrast to other sources, which mostly offered grafted trees. The oaks he grew can be found throughout Europe and as far afield as Argentina. James has promoted the cultivation of oaks for over two decades, providing information through catalogs and attracting public attention at exhibitions, notably the 1995 Chelsea Flower Show, where the Mallet Court Nursery stand featuring oaks won a Gold Medal.”

Although James stepped back from his formal position as manager some time before his death, the nursery continues to operate with its former operators, Jadi and Csilla Balazs, taking the helm.

Follow the links below for more information about James and his oaks:

• My Journey with Oaks – James Harris
• Odyssey  with Oaks – James Harris (page 9)
• A New Quercetum – James Harris
• The Quercetum at Mallet Court, 1 Year on – James Harris
• Nursery News  – James Harris
• Quercus castaneifolia, 2 distinct forms – James Harris