Tree of the Month - March
The National Pinetum at Bedgebury in Kent is 100 years old this month. The very first tree to have been planted here, by botanists from Kew despairing of London's polluted air, was a Southern Japanese Hemlock, Tsuga sieboldii, and a century on it's become the national champion for a mountain species which might be imagined to prefer the cooler and more humid growing conditions of the north and west. It's now one of 250 champion trees in the Pinetum, which is believed to be the world's most comprehensive collection of conifers. To celebrate the centenary, the Forestry Commission, which now owns and manages Bedgebury, has awarded golden labels to its cohort of centenarians.
Owen Johnson MBE VMM
(Photo: Owen Johnson)