This guide contains all the basic information needed to set up and successfully run nurseries relying on manual work. It focuses on the production of containerised seedlings as the method most commonly used in the ILO's Special Public Works Programme (SPWP) and other non-industrial tree planting in developing countries. This booklet should be considered a starting point upon which the nursery workers' and managers' experience can and must built, through careful observation. The best guide to nurseries is the experience of the people running them.