Don't think about planting trees - just do it!

I received a present of a lovely book at Christmas titled Heritage Trees of Ireland by Aubrey Fennell. Unlike the book mentioned earlier, this is not a text on silviculture but rather a celebration of the many wonderful specimen trees that can be found throughout the countryside.The author has an encyclopedic knowledge of trees and I recall one day having the good fortune to meet him on a Tree Council outing where he educated us all on virtually every aspect of a wide range of species.

More recently he has painstakingly hunted down over 300 unique trees which range from the tallest to those with the greatest girth and the list even includes a fairy Hawthorn on the Hill of Tara.

All are recorded with superb photography along with a page on their history and special qualities.

As I so often say, every home should have a copy. This one can be obtained from all good bookshops or direct from the Tree Council.

Wouldn't it be lovely to think that, in three or four hundred years time, people might stand gazing in awe at some fine individual specimen tree you or I had planted in 2016?

Don't think about it - just do it.