It’s a constant disappointment to me that some people just don’t care about trees.
There are people with homes and families and responsibilities, the trappings of adult life, for whom trees are nothing more than an embellishment or an adornment.
An Alniaria, formerly a species of Sorbus, glows in the sun
I Love Trees
Have you ever stood at the bottom of a nice big tree and looked up? With winter arriving across much of the northern hemisphere it’s a good time to look up and marvel at the bare canopy of deciduous trees.
See how the mighty trunk splits into large branches, then these in turn split into smaller branches before splitting again into the fine twigs that bear the leaves.
Acer palmatums, or ‘Japanese Maples’, are famed throughout the world for their autumn colours
Looking at this naked skeleton in winter, it’s possible to really appreciate the natural architecture of trees. Of course if you do this in the autumn you might find yourself enjoying rich colours too.
Looking Forward
I have as little in common with the landowners of the 19th and early 20th centuries as a zebra has with a deer.
Their world was vastly different to mine. Society is coming to terms with the fact that some of the figures of the past were actually pretty obnoxious (sometimes by modern standards, sometimes by the standards of their time too). Regardless of status, contribution or general demeanour, when it comes to my enjoyment of trees I am grateful to them.
Cercidiphyllum, or ‘Katsura’, reaches for the sky
There was a time when anyone who was anyone had a big house and a collection of trees. The bigger and more diverse the collection, the higher the status compared to the neighbours.
It was the predecessor of the modern super-rich buying yachts, private jets and frighteningly expensive cars.
The legacy is that today we have old arboreta that people like you and me can enjoy.
Tree Zoo
I was once asked what an arboretum was.
“It’s a zoo for trees” I replied.
My throwaway comment made sense at the time, but now I’ve come to understand how accurate the idea of a ‘tree zoo’ really is.
A species of Euonymus, or ‘Spindle’, with pleasant pale autumn colouring
So many zoos and arboreta started out as collections for the amusement of people, but now they’re usually involved in conservation efforts too. Both have become scientific institutions involved with conservation of species in their natural habitat, or in situ conservation.
Go Visit!
One day I might suddenly become wealthy enough to have my own arboretum. I probably won’t, and even if I did then there is no way that I would live long enough to see my trees reach their full potential. By visiting an old arboretum I’m able to enjoy the fruits of someone else’s dream, and to enjoy the trees they are no longer here to enjoy.
The Dutch botanist Aljos Farjon described Pinus bungeana, an Asian ‘Lacebark Pine’ which develops beautiful bark over time, as a “tree to inherit or bequeath”; to a greater or lesser extent all trees are like this.
Anyone with space and money could plant an avenue like this, but you’d need to wait well over 100 years for it to reach this maturity
By visiting an arboretum and spending time among the trees we can ‘inherit’ trees planted by past generations. Granted we can’t take them home but we can walk along avenues of magnificent trees, listen to the breeze in their branches, marvel at their scale and form, and we can then go home without having to worry about the cost and responsibility of maintenance.
Outside the key spring and autumn seasons, the latter in particular, so many arboreta are barely visited. I’m as guilty of this as anyone (there’s an arboretum 20 minutes up the road but I haven’t visited for months), but I really should make amends for this transgression during 2024.
Hybrid maples, in this case Acer ‘Jeffersred’, brightening up an almost empty car park
I need to get out and look at trees.
Lovely rant! Walsall Arboretum played a big part in my childhood (hence knowing from an early age what an arboretum is!). These days, I am lucky to live between Westonbirt and Batsford. But at the weekend discovered exactly the arboretum you are talking about: Bodenham, still funded and looked after by a family. Long may they survive as the breathing lungs of both cities and countryside.
I must confess that I’ve done Westonbirt several times but never ventured to Batsford despite hearing so much about it. Looking at the map it’s not all that much further… I’ll put it on the list for next year.
Batsford is a wonderful collection, not least because it’s quite compact so easily manageable in an afternoon. Beautifully laid out vistas and lovely little buildings. And a decent cafe!
I really do need to make the effort to get to Batsford next year!
Bodenham designed and planted by my father in collaboration with the owners David and Jennifer Binnyon. I had an early exposure to arboreta, often being used as a ‘pegging out’ model to check sight lines for specimen trees. I’m very happy to hear Bodenham continues to enthrall.
How wonderful to be part of the making of something that will outlast us all.
Thank you for inspiring us to branch out and explore more diverse tree plantings. In our retirement in the foothills of the Oregon Cascades, we have been restoring the back half of our 1 acre riparian woods /wetland area by adding Pacific Northwest natives shrubs and trees. (Big Leaf Maples, Oregon Ash, Pacific Dogwood, Red Cedar, Red Alder, Oak, Service Berry, Coastal Redwood. and Vine Maples). Getting inspiration from local trails is wonderful, but time to branch out and enjoy our local “Tree Zoos”. Thank you!
There’s a thinking that you must either favour native trees or exotics. You’re growing locally native species (great trees by the way, I’m familiar with them in collections in the UK and they’re wonderful trees) at home because that’s appropriate for you and your needs, but you can still go out and enjoy other trees too. I like that you’re balanced in your approach.
Happy planting!
Beautiful! I’ve never understood the way suburban people treat their trees-hacking away at them to grow grass where no kid will ever play ball. They do not understand the treasures they have. Thank you for sharing.
It’s so frustrating.
There was a housing development in a Cornish town about 15 years ago. They felled a protected tree and the council came and shouted at them, forcing the developer to keep the other protected trees on the site. They made little parks around these old oaks.
When the houses went on the market the ones around the oaks sold within days, with the rest of the estate selling over months. It turned out that people would in fact like to look at big old trees despite what the developers thought.
Agree 100% Jenny. That is you, isn’t it? (Screen name change?)
Beautiful!
We are fortunate to have several beautiful, healthy, large mature trees around our house. Others are not always impressed.
Something I tell them all the time is
“I can plant all the 3 gallon plants I want. But I can’t replace 50 years worth of growth.”
The trees stay.
That’s something people just don’t get; even if you went out and bought the very biggest trees you can get you still can’t buy 50 years of time.
Wonderful homage to trees. Trees are what makes the outdoors relatable to me. When I walk outside it is the trees I notice. I live in a place with a bit of land where Black Walnut have grown for probably 200 yrs; this is in Pennsylvania. I spend tome each day staring up at them from indoors, the tallest are at least 100ft tall. I love them, as much as the White Pine also growing here! Thanks for sharing your ideas. Yes, we must stand with trees!
It can be quite exciting to be dwarfed by a plant… to see something so big towering above us.
Fastastic.
I live in a small town in Pennsylvania where there are many old trees to appreciate. Behind the barn where I live there’s a a large group of Black Walnut trees which are probably about 200 yrs old, and at least 100 ft tall, and yes, they still bear fruit; you can hear the walnuts landing when walking around. This secluded bit of woods is what I consider the ‘nature’ I enjoy from inside as well as walking around outdoors. I don’t think I could be happy without trees. We have a famous Arboretum here but I have not been there yet; next year fir certain. Thanks for this homage to trees!
I’m glad that you’re consciously appreciating your local trees.
Periodically I drive a familiar route and suddenly truly see a tree. Maybe it’s down to my mood, maybe it’s how the light hits at a certain time, I don’t know. I’m just suddenly accutely aware of a tree, sometimes a group of trees, that I’d not seen before. I find myself wondering how I’d not noticed before.
I feel you have taken the thoughts right out of my head…I could not agree more! I hope you don’t mind if I adopt your definition of an arboretum. Thank you for your thoughtful observations.
My husband was the director of an arboretum for 13 years. He always said he did it for future generations. There are white pines (Pinus strobus) growing there that started as seeds that were sent into space. It was to be an experiment to see if their trip made any difference in their growth. I don’t think anyone has followed up on them but the pines are lovely. We also have (on our land) an approximately 130 year old apple that we love to photograph through the seasons. I’m sure it would have incredible tales to tell if we could speak “apple”. Thanks for the “tour”, keep them coming, please.
100 year old people are quite rare, but 100 year old trees are common in most areas! Trees seem to be out of sync with ‘human time’ and it’s this that I suspect makes it hard to connect some people with the plight of trees; who among us could really imagine what it would be like to be 130, 170, 200+ years old?
But I’m delighted to hear that in Maine there is a well loved 130 year old apple tree- long may it live!