National Tree Week 2025

Pensthorpe holds a diverse range of habitats and trees play an important part in all of them. Whether it’s an Oak in the woodlands, Willow in the reedbeds, or Hawthorn along the hedgerows, each provides safe spaces and food for wildlife. For birds, insects, mammals, lichens, fungi & humans, trees are vital!

Around 50ha (123 acres) of Pensthorpe is wooded, including ancient trees, which are hundreds of years old and newer plantations, dating from the 1980s. Management in these areas is minimal, allowing nature to take its own course. Where safe to do so, standing dead trees provide homes for beetle larvae or nesting Woodpeckers. Fallen trees allow light to penetrate the woodland floor and promotes new growth.

Some trees are managed to help us maintain or improve habitats. Two key forms of tree management used are coppicing and pollarding, whereby stems of certain tree species (e.g. Willow, Hazel and Hawthorn) are cut down which allows new growth. Both methods are used on rotation to create different ages of tree growth and can be seen in the woodland and along the river.

Even though in some habitats trees are  removed, such as the meadows and reedbeds, to keep them open, adjacent trees and shrubs are very important, providing shelter and perching spots. Our Wildflower Meadow is a prime example!

Over 20 native tree species have been recorded on site, including pioneer species, such as Alder and Silver Birch as well as longer lived Pedunculate Oak and Ash. In places around Pensthorpe you spot individual trees you may not recognise. During the 1980s, the founder of Pensthorpe, Bill Makins, planted what have become some beautiful specimens of trees from around the world, including Red Oak, Roble Beech and Paper Birch, which add to the uniqueness of Pensthorpe.

Each year a small number of trees are planted around the site. This autumn a few Oak saplings have been transplanted into our new hedgerow on the farmland. “From tiny acorns, mighty Oaks grow” as the saying goes and hopefully it will come true of these individuals, which will become important features in the landscape!