IN THIS GUIDE

Lovell Quinta Arboretum was founded in the 1950s by Radio Astronomer Sir Bernard Lovell , who had a surprising passion of tree diagram that lead to the 25 - acre world .

Nowadays , the arboretum is wangle by theTatton Garden Societyand is maintained by an U. S. Army of volunteers .

tall, ancient trees at Lovell Quinta arboretum in Cheshire

I utter with the Head of the Tatton Garden Society and Honorary Director of the arboretum , David Skidmore , about the park ’s history , its national plant collections and the rarified Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree it is home to .

Arboretum History

“ The arboretum itself was started by Sir Bernard Lovell , the famous Radio Astronomer , ” shares David .

“ Not only was he passionate about radio set uranology , but he was also passionate about trees . He terminate up with about 2,500 different trees and shrubs here and he formed some National Collections .

“ As he get old , he want to ensure that the arboretum was protect .

the lake at Lovell Quinta Arboretum surrounded by coniferous and deciduous trees

“ He was President of Tatton Garden Society and felt it would be appropriate for us to take over .

“ Since then , we ’ve extended the ingathering and planted a lot more tree diagram and bush . ”

The National Plant Collections

“ We have three National Plant Collections , ” starts David .

“ The National Collection of Ash , which has about 40 dissimilar types , the National Collection of Pines , which is made up of about 60 pines , and now the National Collection of Oaks , which consist of about 80 different Oaks .

“ The bulk of the National Collection of Ash issuffering from ash dieback , which is sweeping across the res publica and sham a sight of these tree .

oak trees that are part of a National Collection at Lovell Quinta Arboretum in full leaf

“ We do have some Ash from Asia , which is in the main insubordinate , so that continues to develop , unaffected by the dieback .

“ Pinesaren’t necessarily something that people call back of for the garden , but they are actually wonderful structural tree diagram , and some have fantastic acerate leaf .

“ We ’re also a partner garden with the Royal Botanic Garden of Edinburgh , where they have the International Conifer Conservation Program .

ancient oak tree with huge cavity in its trunk growing at Lovell Quinta Arboretum

“ Because of that , we have a bombastic collection of rather limited conifer , true fir and pines , as well as our National Collection . ”

Rare & Unusual Trees

One of the unique tree diagram in our Oak Collection is theQuercus phellos , also known as the Willow Oak , ” David proceed .

“ It ’s a really interesting example because you would n’t guess it was an Oak at all .

“ It ’s a fascinating and unusual specimen when you reckon at the long leaf that it acquire .

a tall, columnar tree growing near the entrance of Lovell Quinta Arboretum

“ We have some fantastic ancient oak which are likely to be more than 400 year old .

“ What happens in an ancient tree diagram is that they actually go through something called retrenchment where they get little . asunder from the feature of speech of downsizing in an ancient tree diagram , they also get hollow dental caries .

“ This is a natural part of the Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree ’s ontogenesis as it get old and it can exist like this for several hundred more year .

“ In fact , as the centre decays , it go into little particles of wood and that fertilises the tree further , so it gets a second encouragement from this . ”

Visiting The Arboretum

“ It ’s wonderful to just come up and walk around , as it ’s such a peaceful place , ” shares David .

“ Every season is different , so you almost palpate as if you ’re in a dissimilar lieu each clip you come along .

“ There are visitant who care to number for recreation , and I just want them to go away having that feeling of having had a peaceful time here .

“ On top of that , I ’d like multitude to take an interest in the plants and realise it ’s not just a place for walking – it is a limited plaza full of wonderful trees . ”

To discover more or to inflict the arboretum for yourself , brain overto Lovell Quinta Arboretum ’s website .