A GOLDEN OPPORTUNITY
Autumn’s blaze of colour is set to be spectacular – here’s where to enjoy it
LEAF peeping – no, don’t laugh – is a recognised hobby for many people around the world. In places like Connecticut, US, and parts of New Zealand, tourists obsess and delight at autumnal hues as greens change to orange, red and russet. I often comment on the delight of living in a part of the world where there are four distinct seasons and autumn is so well defined by the changes in leaf colour.
This happens when chlorophyll production slows down in preparation for the trees going into hibernation, allowing other colours already present in the leaves – oranges and yellows – to become visible.
By all accounts, due to the wonderful sunny nature of our summer just gone, we are in for a treat this autumn. Why is this? Long periods of sun create more sugar content in the leaf tissues resulting in more anthocyanins, a chemical compound that produces those wonderful vivid reds and scarlets. However, while it maybe a spectacular show, it will be short. Trees were also stressed by the drought and will drop their leaves quickly as a result.
Britain has many great gardens and due to the nation’s relative prosperity, trees from many different countries have been planted here for many hundreds of years. Great gardens and parks have been laid down with broad-leafed species (and some deciduous conifers) which are beginning to look stunning.
Just this week I walked the dog up a grand avenue of old beech trees on the long driveway to the Powerscourt Estate in Enniskerry, County Wicklow, near where I live. This is a breathtaking sight every year when the leaves turn orange and the avenue appears like a tunnel on fire. The change is beginning, and this is the year to get out and enjoy it all – so here are some suggestions...
RICHMOND PARK, WEST LONDON
THIS was once a deer hunting ground for royalty, which is home to magnificent ancient oak trees which take on an orange glow in autumn. Visit the Isabella Plantation, an ornamental woodland within the ancient park and look out for colourful acers, stewartias, liquidambar, nyssa and parrotia.
LAKE DISTRICT, CUMBRIA
ANY time of year is a good time to visit the Lakes but there’s something really special when you view the trees in their autumn beauty, often reflected in the vast still waters.
Visit Holker Hall Gardens in Grangeover-sands to enjoy autumnal colours in this immaculately maintained and charming 23-acre garden.
WESTONBIRT ARBORETUM
BOASTING 15,000 specimens (2,500 different species from the far corners of the globe), Westonbirt in Gloucestershire is world renowned for its tree collection and well worth a visit for any nature lover.
Its Autumn Colour Hotline informed me that the autumnal show was “well under way” and special plants to look out for over the next few weeks are the Cercidiphyllum, Prunus sargentii and the spectacular Euonymus.
DUNHAM MASSEY, CHESHIRE
TAKE an Autumn Senses Garden Tour at Dunham Massey (daily at 11.30am and 2.15pm). Enjoy the sights and smells of the autumn season – the scarlets of acers, along with the distinctive candyfloss smell of the Katsura tree as its leaves turn to gold.
GIBSIDE NATIONAL TRUST GATESHEAD
GIBSIDE is one of a few surviving 18th-century designed landscapes and was fashioned with two things in mind – spectacular views and “wow” moments.
With 243 hectares (600 acres) of gardens, woodland and countryside, it’s teeming with beautiful trees including a mile-long avenue of old oaks known as the Long Walk which is sure to look spectacular very soon.
■ Next week I’ll give you a list of trees and shrubs that are suitable for planting in your garden to introduce these amazing colourful hues to your home.