Southern hemisphere trees head north

Inverewe Garden, the National Trust for Scotland’s west coast garden, undertook some historic gardening on Tuesday 30 June, when it completed the creation of the most northerly planted grove of Wollemi Pine in the world.

Inverewe Garden, the National Trust for Scotland’s west coast garden, undertook some historic gardening on Tuesday 30 June, when it completed the creation of the most northerly planted grove of Wollemi Pine in the world.

By planting the new trees, the conservation charity is helping to preserve one of the world’s oldest and rarest tree species for generations to come.

The Wollemi Pine hails from Australia and is believed to date back to the time of the dinosaurs. It is extremely rare - there are fewer than 100 trees in the wild.

Eight Wollemi Pines have been planted at Inverewe – the final went into the ground today when BBC’s Beechgrove Garden presenter Jim McColl dropped in to the garden.



Property Manager Roy Dowsett said:



“Inverewe is honoured to be playing such an important part in preserving this ancient species. The garden is famous for its exotic plants, but the Wollemi Pine is something else. The scale alone tells you that you are dealing with a plant that originated in the Jurassic period. Our tallest specimen stands at 7 feet, but they can grow to a mighty sixty metres and live for more than 1000 years.

“We are very grateful to the generous supporters who have enabled us to bring this ancient and fascinating species to its most northerly location in the world.”