Trees Gallery - Scampston Hall

In the walled garden at Scampston

Scampston Hall is owned by the Legards, with a wonderful contemporary walled garden, designed by Dutch plantsman Piet Oudolf in 1999, and opened to the publc in 2005. It's 80 acres of parkland evolved in the 18th century, culminating in a design by Capability Brown in 1782. Scampston Hall website. Leaflet Map

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Acer palmatum acer - from the Latin for maple; palmatum, palm-like, referring to the 5 lobed hand shaped leaves

Japanese maple

Japanese maples are characterised by their 5-lobed, palmate leaves. There is a vast array of varietes, some occuring naturally, many others as cultivars. Without labels it can be difficult to tell which is which, so the photos here have just been grouped under the general species name.

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Acer japonicum acer - from the Latin for maple; japonicum, Latin for from Japan,indicating the plant's native origin; Aconitifolium: foliage like Aconitum, referring to the resemblance of the leaves to those of the monkshood or wolfsbane plant (Aconitum). aconitifolium

Japanese maple

A deciduous shrub or small ree, it has a slow to moderate growth rate, with a multi-stemmed structure. Small, red, daisy-like flowers appear in drooping clusters in early spring before the leaves, followed by green-winged seeds (samaras) that mature later in the season.

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Acer palmatum acer - from the Latin for maple; palmatum, palm-like, referring to the 5 lobed hand shaped leaves bloodgood

Japanese maple

Japanese maples are characterised by their 5-lobed, palmate leaves. There is a vast array of varietes, some occuring naturally, many others as cultivars. Without labels it can be difficult to tell which is which, so the photos here have just been grouped under the general species name. This one is labelled Bloodgood.

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Acer palmatum acer - from the Latin for maple; palmatum, palm-like, referring to the 5 lobed hand shaped leaves dissectum - deeply cut dissectum Garnet

Cut-leaved maple

Another acer, this one with lace-like delicate cut leaves, labelled as the variety 'Garnet'. A deciduous, weeping Japanese maple renowned for its deeply divided, lace-like foliage that provides intense colour throughout the growing season. It is considered one of the best red laceleaf maples for maintaining its deep colour, rather than fading to green, during the summer.

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Acer palmatum acer - from the Latin for maple; palmatum, palm-like, referring to the 5 lobed hand shaped leaves dissectum - deeply cut dissectum purpurea

Cut-leaved maple

Another acer, this one with lace-like delicate cut leaves, growing next to the sango-kaku in the parkland.

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Acer palmatum acer - from the Latin for maple; palmatum, palm-like, referring to the 5 lobed hand shaped leaves osakazuki - large sake cup (or Wine Cup). osakazuki

Japanese maple

A large, deciduous tree renowned for having perhaps the most brilliant, long-lasting crimson-red autumn foliage of all cultivars. It has an open, rounded, or vase-shaped habit, growing to 4 m in height and spread, with large, 7-lobed green leaves that turn fiery scarlet in autumn.

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Acer palmatum acer - from the Latin for maple; palmatum, palm-like, referring to the 5 lobed hand (or palm) shaped leaves; Sango (??) - sea coral, referring to the colour; Kaku (?) - translates to tower, referring to the upright growth habit of the tree. sango-kaku

Coral bark maple

There are two handsome acer trees in the parkland, on the east side of the lake near the large Scots pine. Both acer palmatum, I think this one is possibly sango-kaku, the coral bark maple (compare ones at Antony House and Trelissick). I have asked the Hall for identification if possible.

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Acer palmatum acer - from the Latin for maple; palmatum, palm-like, referring to the 5 lobed hand (or palm) shaped leaves; Seiryu from Japanese, Blue or Blue-Green dragon, possibly referring to the leaves in summer. seiryu

Blue dragon maple

It is unique as the only upright, non-weeping dissected-leaf Japanese maple, and it grows quickly. Deciduous, bright green, deeply divided leaves are often tipped with red in spring.

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Acer pseudoplatanus acer - maple; pseudoplatanus - false plane, referring to a superficial similarity of leaves and bark to those of plane trees (genus platanus); variegatum - variegated leaves variegatum

Variegated sycamore

A large sycamore with curiously light coloured leaves, marking it as the forma minor difference to the species, such as leaf colour, flower colour or fruit variegatum. This one had a name plate on it, which only signified the standard sycamore variety, and not the form. I find that sycamore is the best timber for pyrography, with its smooth, tight grain making for even burning, and its light creamy colour providing good contrast for burns. The Tree Register lists this as a "remarkable tree" in 2009. Girth 365 cm at 1.5 m high.

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Araucaria araucana araucaria - after a region of Chile; araucana - the native tribe who used the tree's seeds for food.

Monkey puzzle tree

The monkey puzzle or Chilean pine is not one of the native British trees in the park, having being introduced to Britain by the Victorians. It is now a fairly common sight in the UK, including some planted in fairly small gardens which would do well to check out the mature heights - this one is probably still quite young at around 150 years old.

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Betula pendula betula - birch, possibly from betu, meaning tar or bitumen, which can be extracted from the tree, pendula - hanging down (L.)

Silver birch

The parkland has many fine specimens of native British trees, standing alone in the cut grassed areas, allowing their size and shape to be admired. Here are two birch trees on the East side of the house.

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BroussonetiaBroussonetia, after French naturalist Pierre Marie Auguste Broussonet; papyrifera, from the Latin papyrus (referring to paper) and ferre (meaning to bear), in reference to the tree's bark being used to make paper and tapa papyrifera

Paper mulberry

A deciduous shrub or tree usually growing 10 - 20 m, native to Asia. It is dioecious it has male and female flowers on separate plants . Catkins are up to 8 cm long with fuzzy male flowers. The pistillate inflorescence is a spherical head up to about 2 cm wide with greenish female flowers trailing long styles. The fruit is a spherical cluster containing many red or orange fruits. Each individual protruding fruit in the cluster is a drupe. It is cultivated for paper and cloth production from its bark.

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Castanea sativa castanea - after the town of Castanum in Thessaly, where it grew in abundance; sativa - Latin for 'cultivated' or 'sown'.

Sweet chestnut

A.k.a. Spanish chestnut, this old tree was planted in the middle of the 18th century - in the reign of George III, making it more than 250 years old (they can live to over 1000 years). The trunk shows the classic twist of large chestnuts. A native of southern europe, introduced to the UK by the Romans, and popular for estate planting from the 17th century onwards. In September 2021 a very large branch broke away. I asked what was to happen to it, the result being that Ryedale Woodturners chopped it up and removed it for woodturning projects.

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