Our story

Gary Hurlstone founded NexGen Tree Shelters in 2020. Gary was following in the footsteps of his father, Graham, who, in the mid-1980s, invented the Tubex Tree Shelter, which fast became the market leader.

Of course, 35 years ago, we were unaware of the environmental harm some plastics can cause. The climate crisis was not high on the agenda, and few people considered the need to use sustainable materials that biodegrade without harming the soil or local wildlife.

Today, things are very different. We are all too aware of the urgent need to move away from using plastic and do everything we can to protect the environment.

With this in mind, Gary took his father’s 35-year-old design and began four years of painstaking research to update it to a version that would perform at least as well, be cost-effective, and, most important of all, be environmentally friendly.

Gary worked with foresters, landowners and industry experts, exploring which materials would meet these criteria. After numerous trials, wool proved to be the ideal material for the substrate around which we’ve built the NexGen Tree Shelter range.