Kentish Gazette Canterbury & District
It’s no ordinary conifer – tree could reach 300ft
The splendid conifer tree towering over a village house often draws admiring glances from people passing by.
It stands about 30ft tall – but in years to come it could dominate the Blean skyline.
Because the evergreen is actually a giant sequoia, which in its native California is one of the tallest trees in the world, growing up to 300ft.
It belongs to retired university professor Robert Newport and wife Jan, who nurtured it from a seed and have watched it thrive.
Retired teacher Jan said: “I guess in a few hundred years people might complain about it, but we’ll keep on top of it while we’re around.”
The 59-year-old also revealed the tree has a special place in the family’s hearts.
Because how a giant sequoia came to be in the Newports’ front garden in Chapel Lane, Blean, is the result of a long-distance friendship dating back more than 50 years.
It began with a teacher exchange in 1967, when a couple and their children from California, called the Barretts, came to stay in Bilting, near Ashford, for a year – next door to a then 10-year-old Jan and her parents.
A strong friendship developed and continued over the years, which has resulted in Jan and her family making many return trips to the American state.
Jan said: “It was during one of those in the mid-90s that Robert bought 10 giant sequoia seeds while we were visiting Kings Canyon National Park.
“We were living in Tyler Hill at the time. Back home, we began nurturing them, eventually potting the three saplings that did flourish.”
The couple replanted two saplings when they moved to Blean in 2005, and one of them has been growing at the rate of about 2ft a year ever since.
Jan, who used to work with children with autism, said: “Of the three seeds which did take, we gave one sapling away to friends and planted two in Blean.
“But one was in the wrong place and we have had to keep it lopped right down.
“The other is growing magnificently and often gets comments, especially when it is covered in snow. It’s also a constant reminder of our cross-atlantic friendship which, like the tree, continues to endure.”
Does anything in your garden attract admiring glances? Email kentishgazette@thekmgroup. co.uk, call 01227 475915 or write to Gazette House, 5-8 Boorman Way, Wraik Hill, Whitstable CT5 3SE