Trees gallery - Beningbrough Hall - page 3

Platanus x acerifolia

London plane burrs

A large stump near the ha-ha at the rear of the Hall, covered in burrs from roots to crown. Head gardener Sam Shipman says it is a London plane which has been heavily pollarded over the years.

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Platanus x acerifolia

London plane pollards

A.k.a. platanus hispanica. Heavily pollarded the process in which the main branch systems of trees are pruned heavily to short stubs. London plane trees lining the terraced garden in the restaurant area. These provide shade for outdoor dining in the summer, and sculptural forms in the winter.

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Podocarpus salignusPodocarpus - from Greek pous meaning foot or stalk and karpos, fruit; salignus - Latin, meaning resembling willow or salix, the willow genus.

Willow-leaf podocarp

An evergreen conifer native to C Chile, making a medium-sized tree of bushy, upright growth to 20m. Arching or drooping branches are well-clothed with dark, glossy willow-like leaves up to 15cm in length. Pollen cones are either solitary or several on a common peduncle a stalk bearing a flower or fruit , cylindrical, very slender, 25–50mm at maturity. Seed cones are solitary, pedunculate, with a fleshy receptacle ripening to rich red.

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Prunus lusitanica Prunus classical Latin name for plum tree. Lusitanica: Derived from Lusitania, the Roman province covering modern-day Portugal and part of western Spain.

Portuguese laurel

SW Europe. An evergreen shrub or small tree growing to 3-8m tall. The bark is smooth and dark-grey. The flowers are small (10–15 mm diameter) with five small white petals; they are produced on erect or spreading racemes 15–25 cm long in late spring. The fruit is a small cherry-like drupe 8–13 mm in diameter, green or reddish green at first, turning dark purple or black when ripe in late summer or early autumn.

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Prunus shirofugen

Japanese Cherry

A.k.a. p. fugenzo. Noted as a veteran tree in the Ancient Tree Register, with a girth of 2.43m. Absolutely masses of flowers on the trees, falling like pink snow on the ground. One of the last cherries to produce its double white flowers, which gradually turn pink. It is easy to assume that it is a different species from the beginning to the end of the flowering period as the flowers are so different in colour. Young foliage is coppery in colour, contrasting nicely with the pink flowers; it continues to turn green and then orange in the autumn time.

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Prunus persica prunus - Latin name for the plum tree; Persica from Latin meaning Persian apple, reflecting the ancient Roman belief that peaches originated in Persia, although they actually originated in China; Peregrine - a popular British white-fleshed cultivar with red skin, raised in 1906. (peregrinus - foreign, coming from abroad). peregrine

Peach peregrine

This hardy variety produces beautiful pink blossoms in March, producing fruits in mid August to early September, which are light green and crimson. This cultivar is best grown under cover, but in the south of England may be grown outside in a sheltered position.

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Pyrus communis

Victorian pear arch

Arguably the most iconic feature of Beningbrough's gardens, the pear arch is made up of 20 individual trees. The arch was planted in the 1890s and is an original feature of the Victorian walled garden, along with the greenhouse.

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Quercus cerris

Tree stump

Trees eventually succumb to disease and die, or become too dangerous and need to be felled. Peter Garbutt emailed me in 2023 to tell me this was a large Turkey Oak, damaged by gales and disease.

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Quercus cerris

Veteran Turkey oak

According to the Ancient Tree Inventory, there are still two Turkey oaks standing on the HaHa walk, near to the stump shown above. One has lost its crown, the other is looking good - pictured here.

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Quercus ilex

Holm oak

The holm oak is an evergreen oak, with glossy holly like leaves. It was first introduced to Britain in the 1500s and, though it’s not as adapted as our native oaks, it supports plenty of our wildlife. This one is growing happily in the car park.

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