Extract

Introduction

Trees and Woodland are the very fabric of our national identity in the British Isles. They bind together all parts of the landscape and even seascapes. They are home to countless species, the very essence of Nature.

One of my favourite Horticulturalists is Monty Don[1], and this short extract is a tiny example of the working manual I use for my own time in the garden.

*Cotswold in High Summer ~ Digital Art design by KTW*

**Oak (Quercus)**

Trees ~ Page: 43 of 440 pages

Oakes are the archetypal tree of the British landscape, a measure of wealth and security. This was literally the case as land was judged by the size and health of the oak trees that grew on it. In the countryside around my garden, Oakes grow better than anywhere else in the land. The framework of my house is constructed from Oak as are all the bars.

As I type these words, with the computer on an open table, my feet rest on oak floorboards, there are books on oak bookcases and the doors and windows are made from Oak. When oak is single ‘green’ or freshly cut, it is fairly soft and easy to work. But as it ages and lies, it becomes unbreakable hard and strong. I have reused timbers in the fifteenth-century part of the house that are at least 700 years old, and they are still super strong and undamaged.

Oak has an extraordinary ability to stay alive even though the majority of its branches and trunk might die back. A few miles down the road is an oak tree that is reckoned to be at least 1000 years old and is 10 m (34 feet) in girth at 90 cm (36 inches) above the ground. It is hollow, has caught fire, but is still living.

No other plant contributes more to the sustenance of diversity in our landscape, including gardens, for an oak tree houses more living creatures than any other growing plant in Britain. All kinds of birds will nest in its branches. More will nest in its hollow trunk and stems, as will bats. Hundreds of different kinds of invertebrates and insects live on or in some part of it.

End of extract by Montague Don (Monty Don).

Note

Monty Don is an English gardener, writer, and broadcaster, best known as the presenter of the BBC's Gardeners' World. Born in Germany in 1955, he studied at Cambridge, where he met his wife Sarah, and they built a successful fashion jewellery business in the 1980s before it collapsed due to a stock market downturn.

This led him to his current career, which includes writing over 25 books and presenting numerous television series. He was awarded an OBE in 2018 for his services to horticulture, broadcasting, and charity.

[1] Born George Montagu Don OBE on July 8, 1955, in West Germany, he is the youngest of five children to British parents. He grew up in Hampshire and attended Magdalene College, Cambridge.

Source: The Complete Gardener

Author: Monty Don (Montague Don)

Publisher: DK Penguin Random House 2021

DK, One Embassy Gardens, Eight Viaduct Gardens, London SW11 7BW