Tree Charter

The Tree Charter aims to 'place trees at the centre of national decision making , and back at the heart of our lives and communities. The charter will provide guidance and inspiration to allow us all to appreciate, preserve and celebrate our trees and woods.

The charter will be rooted in stories and memories that show us how trees have shaped our society, landscape and lives. We need you to share your story with us, to help us create a charter that reflects the true meaning of our trees and woods to the people of the UK'.

 If you're in the UK, you can share your stories of trees here. This is the story I just shared on the Tree Charter website.

I have loved trees all my life. The first tree I loved was the large sycamore at the bottom of my parent's garden, surrounded by a mass of shrubs and smaller trees. I used to hide down there and sometimes played there with my sister and our friends. The trees and shrubs are all still there, but they seem smaller these days! 

I still love trees of course, as readers of this blog will realise! Most of my favourite places feature trees, including the Braid Burn

and Colinton Dell, which I visit every week as part of my voluntary work with the Water of Leith Conservation Trust.

I love learning about trees, particularly the natural history - did you know that one of the easiest ways to recognise a lime (linden) tree in winter is by its odd 'skirt' of branches?

I also love that trees continue to be a valuable part of the ecosystem even when they've died, this fallen tree in Colinton Dell is both home to turkey tail fungus

 and used as a scratching post by local badgers

Some trees are also historically interesting. Colinton Dell is now a very peaceful area of woodland, but in the past it was full of paper mills. Most of these mills are no longer there and one of the main signs of this historical past is in the hornbeam trees, which were planted alongside the river as their wood is so strong and durable it was ideal for building parts for the mills. It's also a beautiful tree, not native to Scotland (though native to the sounth of the UK), so these trees alongside the river are probably the only ones in Edinburgh. I love their chandelier 'fruits' that come out in autumn and turn a lovely yellow colour (there are two in the photo below, the one in front still green).

As ever, red text contains huperlinks that take you to other websites where you can find out more.