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Category Archives: landscape

19
Nov 2017

Castanea sativa or sweet chestnut

Castanea sativa or sweet chestnut – from Old Men of the Woods portfolio at Wisley. Around 100 to 150 years old, these could live up to 700 years. So, like the Giant Redwoods, mere teenagers. Both of these trees are in the area threatened by the A3 widening scheme. Although the fruit has become part of winter or Christmas tradition, the chestnut is not a native species and is thought to have been introduced to the British Isles by the Romans. The Greeks dedicated the sweet chestnut to the god Zeus and its botanical name castanea comes from Castonis, a […]
17
Nov 2017

Garden of the Year

Nice to have the cover of this month’s Gardeners’ World magazine, with their Gardens of the Year competition issue. Congratulations to all the lovely folk I met en-route in a slightly mad 8 day dash across the UK from Kent, Hampshire, Wales, up to the Lake District, Scotland and finally to the Orkney Islands. And thanks for all the 5am cups of coffee, bacon sandwiches and chocolate biscuits to keep me going…I promise, I wasn’t a judge!
4
Nov 2017

The Old Men Of The Woods

In 2007 I took photographs for a folio called ‘Pinhole Impressions’, which is a record of trees at RHS Wisley using a pinhole camera. I was lucky enough to have this exhibited at both Kew and Wisley at the time. 10 years on, some of these trees are under threat from the proposed development of the M25 and A3 road junction. With the help of the folk at Wisley, I have started a new project with the working title ‘The Old Men Of The Woods’ recording some of the 500 trees that could be lost. Some are rare, some are […]