Of all the plants that surround us, it’s often trees that provoke the biggest emotional response. Perhaps it’s because so many outlive us – yews along can survive thousands of years. It’s a connection that’s explored in The Arboretum, a new book by Gail Harland.
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It opens by examining the importance of trees not just for their beauty but also as a way of capturing carbon, a source of food, timber and medicine, along with the positive effect they can have on our wellbeing – the benefits of being outside is well documented. Studies have also shown that academic performance is improved by nearby tree cover.
As the famous plant-hunter Ernest Wilson said: “trees are virtuous citizens of the earth, rich in permanent qualities – indispensables”.
The Arboretum goes on to chart the long relationship we have had with trees from myths and legends, through to recent plantings such as the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.
We’re told that while the idea of an arboretum may be fairly new, collecting trees dates back millennia. Archaeologists have found evidence of tree planting dating back to the pharaohs. The female Pharaoh Hatshepsut imported incense trees from the land of Punt, the arrival being depicted in reliefs at her mortuary temple.
Trees have influenced artists, such as Rembrandt, long been planted to mark significant events and even had a central role in some, including the sycamore in Dorset under which the Tolpuddle Martyrs met and the apple tree at Woolsthorpe Manor whose falling fruit inspired Newton’s theory of universal gravity.
We learn of early tree nurseries, such as Loddiges in Hackney, London, and moves to create parks with trees for locals to enjoy. Derby Arboretum opened in 1840 and was the Britain’s first urban public park.
Today, as well as for study or simply enjoyment, an arboretum is often a place for safeguarding genetic diversity as our trees face threat from development, climate change, pest and disease.
Full of historical detail and illustrated with vintage images and postcards, The Arboretum is a good read for anyone wanting to know more about our obsession with trees. As former Conservative minister Lord Heseltine, who has created an arboretum at his Oxfordshire home, said when asked about his greatest legacy: “My trees. It’s the only thing people will remember.”
Top image: View of the bridge at Lincoln Arboretum, vintage postcard.
The Arboretum by Gail Harland is published by Amberley Publishing with an RRP of £15.99. #Ad You can buy it here for £12.39. (If you buy via this link, I receive a small commission. The price you pay is not affected.) Alternatively, you may wish to buy from an independent bookseller here. All prices correct at time of publication of this post.
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