Tree of the Month - February
There has been tight competition in recent years for the title of Britain and Ireland's tallest Dawyck Beech (Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck'). This was to be expected, since there are lots of genetically identical grafted examples of about the same age growing in many gardens which share rather similar growing conditions. In 2024, candidates at the Winkworth Arboretum (Surrey), the Westonbirt National Arboretum (Gloucestershire) and Woburn Park (Bedfordshire) were all measured at 30.2m tall.
This dispute has now been resolved by Tree Register volunteer Ron Kemeny, who remeasured a Dawyck Beech in the particularly kindly and sheltered conditions of Westwood Valley at Wakehurst Place (West Sussex) and found that it had grown to 31.4m.
Now it's up to you to find a new champion in a garden that doesn't begin with a 'W'!
Owen Johnson MBE VMM
(Photo: Ron Kemeny)