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Your brilliant guide to identifying Ireland’s trees

THE theme of this year’s National Tree Week, which starts today and is organised by the Tree Council of Ireland, is ‘Healthy trees mean a healthy planet’. In fact, since the start of the pandemic people have been demonstrating the truth of this as a recent Coillte report on visitor numbers to our woodlands shows. There have been over 2.2m visitors to the forestry company’s top 60 woodlands and, as Coillte manages six thousand properties, all of which are open to the public, the number of people who appreciate the value of woodland walks are a multiple of this number.

National Tree Week is all about trees – planting trees, maintaining and looking after those already planted, getting out and appreciating the therapeutic value of trees and indeed realising that our natural environment is a valuable asset both for ourselves and the biodiversity of plants and animals there. Trees remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, store the carbon in their timber and release the oxygen into the air. They play a vital role in combating climate change and Ireland, with 11% tree cover, is still the lowest in the EU.

Coillte, sponsors of Tree Week, is making 100,000 trees available to be planted throughout the year. Some 15,000 of these are being planted through the auspices of the

local authorities during National Tree Week while more are being planted as part of the Easy Treesie Project, which aims to plant one million trees with Ireland’s one million school children and their communities by 2023.

While in other years tree planting events were held to celebrate Tree Week, this is not possible this year so much of the celebration is happening virtually. The Tree Council of Ireland is running a series of Tree webinars throughout the week which are free to attend (details on its website). They are also running a tree photography competition which is open to all. To enter, you need to submit a recent picture of a tree growing in Ireland and send it in by Friday March 26, together with an account of why this tree holds such importance for you. Full details are at www.treecouncil.ie.

You can do also your bit for National Tree Week by planting a tree in your garden. Small trees can be a great asset, lovely to look at as well as providing food and shelter for birds, bees and other pollinators.

Native Irish trees are particularly good to plant, as they can support a larger biodiversity of fauna than non-native trees but, in fact, any tree that grows well and that gives pleasure is well worth planting.

Holly grows slowly and if you plant a female one you (and the local thrushes) will be assured of a supply of red berries in the autumn. Blackthorn can make a nice contribution to the hedge of a small garden with its lovely white blossom that comes before the leaves in March and its purple sloes in autumn.

Other native trees suitable for small gardens are mountain ash – also known as rowan. Not only does this tree have flowers for the bees in spring and bright red berries in autumn, but its magical powers ensure that it is feared by witches, who will keep well away.

Hazel, with its catkins and nuts along with crab apple, another native species, grow well in most gardens and indeed may attract such visitors as bullfinches and squirrels.

Some trees earn their place by virtue of their beauty. The Himalayan Birch, with its luminous white trunk and branches, would gladden any heart on a winter’s day. Nothing can beat the Japanese maple for spectacular autumn colour which it delivers unfailingly every year.

On the other hand, you may decide that the owners of the garden should directly benefit and in this case plant a pear tree.

You can even grow them in an espalier fashion if you have a sunny wall.

But if a native tree is your wish – and why not? – well then plant a hawthorn. These can grow five metres high with musky smelling flowers in May and red haws in September.

But once you do, then you are committed, as you will offend the ‘little people’, the fairies if you have to cut it down. Or you could plant a spindle tree, another native, which has scarlet leaves in autumn and pinky-red berries which open to display orange seeds. But whatever you choose, do plant something and National Tree Week is a great time to do it. n National Tree Week runs from March 21-28. Full details at www.treecouncil.ie.

2 Japanese Maple (Acer palmatum, Osakasuki). Grown mainly for its spectacular autumn colour, this is, perhaps, one of the best of all the maples. It has an open habit and its large, seven-lobed, bright green leaves turn brilliant scarlet in autumn and last for several weeks. As an ornamental tree it reaches a height of six metres. 2

3 Hawthorn Tree (Crataegus monogyna). An Sceach Gheal. This native small tree has white flowers in spring and red haws for the birds in autumn. The fairies love it too. 3

4 Also, try growing a pear tree (Pyrus). This fruit tree has lovely flowers in spring for the bees and lovely fruit for us in the autumn. 4

5 Spindle (Euonymus europaeus). Feoras. Although inconspicuous for much of the year, this small tree is showy in autumn and early winter when the leaves turn blazing scarlet and masses of red capsules open to reveal orange seeds. A native tree, with a height of four metres. 5

1 1 Himalayan Birch (Betula utilis, Jacquemontii). The trunk and branches of this tree are a luminous white. Its glossy, dark green leaves turn yellow in autumn and yellowbrown male catkins appear in early spring. As an ornamental tree, it grows to a height of 12metres.