Celebrating National Tree Week 2025
- Alice Clark
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
National Tree Week is the UK’s biggest annual celebration of trees, marking the start of the winter tree planting season and reminding us of the vital role trees play in our landscapes, wildlife habitats, and cultural heritage. This year, we wanted to take a more personal approach. So, we asked members of the FWAG East team one simple question:
“What is your favourite tree, and why?”
The answers discuss not only the deep connection we all share with trees but also the incredible diversity of benefits each species brings to our environment, from supporting invertebrates to stabilising soils, providing food and shelter for wildlife, and even shaping our history and folklore.
In this post, we have gathered all of our National Tree Week stories in one place.
Emily Stacey, Project Manager:
"The oak is one of my favourite trees and one of the most valuable trees for wildlife being associated with 284 insect species, 139 mite species and 324 lichen species. I love the wiggly growth of their branches which makes them an impressive and iconic feature within our landscape. Oak trees can live up to 1000 years, largely due to their adaptability and resilience. Under stress they produce epicormic sprouts that allow them to recover and regenerate after damage. Over its lifetime one tree produces over 10 million acorns. However, only 1 in 10,000 acorns grow into oak trees."
Tate Oulton, Assistant Farm Environment Adviser:
"The true native black poplar (Populus nigra subsp. betulifolia) is one of my favourite trees, and for good reason. A species that likes wet “feet”, it was once a common sight across the floodplains, rivers and ditches of the UK. As you might imagine, my locality of East Anglia was (and remains, relatively) a refuge for this dark, knobbly and fissured beauty.
Historic land drainage has sadly led to a dramatic decline in black poplar numbers, making it a real rarity today. Recent conservation efforts have led to an uptick in numbers, but it is always exciting when you find a grizzled old specimen in the wild. The tree is an important food plant for the caterpillars of many moth species, an early source of nectar and pollen for bees and other insects, and its deep furrows and cracks provide shelter for all manner of species of invertebrates, bats and owls.
Black poplar also has a deep-rooted history in our culture and landscape. It was once an important timber source for cartwheels, thatching spars and floorboards, and appears time and again in some of our most cherished national artworks — Constable’s The Hay Wain being a famous example.
With its gnarled, craggy and often brooding appearance, it’s easy to see how folklore arose around it: the deep red catkins of the male tree were said to be the fingers of the devil. So don’t pick one up… unless you’re looking for trouble."
Bradley Huggett, Assistant Farm Environment Adviser:
“Hornbeam is easily recognized by its beautiful, twisting, fluted bark. Consequently, woodlands containing hornbeam remain characterful throughout the year - even in winter when most trees have lost their leaves. Many hornbeams, however, will hold on to some of their gold and brown autumnal leaves all the way until the spring when they are replaced by fresh growth. This lingering foliage adds a bit of much-missed colour to winter woods and provides extra cover for birds and small mammals.
Hornbeam can be found as dense hedgerow, coppice understory, or a thirty-metre-tall veteran tree, thereby offering a plethora of different habitats and ecological niches. It is a source of pollen for insects in the spring and seeds for birds and small mammals in the autumn.
Hornbeam has been an important part of woodland management for centuries. It is commonly coppiced on 15-25 year cycles for firewood and charcoal, but its timber is extremely hard – often given the title of the hardest timber in Europe. This durability has led to hornbeam timber being utilised in agriculture throughout history: for cartwheels, tool handles, yokes for oxen, and cogs used in windmills and watermills. Hornbeam’s strength was so infamous the Romans used it to make chariots!”
Alice Clark, Farm Environment Adviser:
"If I had to choose a favourite tree, it would be the Yew. There is something timeless and almost mystical about them. Yews always appear ancient, evergreen, and quietly resilient. They are one of the few native evergreen trees in Britain, and some of the oldest living specimens have stood for over a thousand years, witnessing countless generations come and go. Many are found in churchyards, where their presence is also steeped in history and symbolism.
Beyond their cultural significance, Yews play an important ecological role: their dense, evergreen canopy provides year-round shelter for birds, insects, and small mammals, while their bright red berries provide a vital winter food source for both native and migratory species. Though slow-growing, yews live for centuries, locking away carbon for the long term. They often thrive on slopes and in shaded woodland, and with their extensive root network help to stabilise soil and prevent erosion. Remarkably tolerant of shade, drought, and poor soils, yews are also well-suited to a changing climate and play an invaluable role in our natural environment."
George Gillott, Assistant Farm Environment Adviser:
"When asked to talk about my favourite tree, I decided not to choose my favourite species, the oak - an entire city of biodiversity in itself. Instead, I wanted to focus on a single tree; to highlight how important individual specimens can be to thousands of people over their long lives.
The tree that came to mind is one I visited last year, a few miles from the village where I grew up. Atop Oker Hill stands a sycamore tree that quietly holds decades of history.
Known as Will Shore’s Tree, it is said to be the sole survivor of a pair of sycamores planted by two brothers, Will and Tom, each planting one before parting ways forever. According to the local legend, Tom left the area to seek his fortune abroad but died in poverty. His tree too withered, while Will, who stayed at home, prospered, as did his tree. The legend is the subject of a Wordsworth sonnet from 1791.
Today, beneath the sycamore, tucked into a hollow, is a box filled with notebooks and trinkets left by visitors. Inside the notebooks are simple messages that mostly talk of their picnics, the weather, the company they were with and the people they love. Leafing through these notes offers a small, physical piece of the tree’s story. It’s impossible not to imagine the thousands of others who have stood beneath its branches over the centuries and woven their own lives into its long history.
Sycamores may not be the most biodiverse species, nor are they truly native, but the significance of this tree - and of countless other individual trees that have outlived generations - is undeniable. They hold stories older than the books on our shelves and histories deeper than we can fully comprehend."
Rebecca Inman, Senior Farm Environment Adviser:
"Small Leaved Lime is one of my favourite trees. Once a dominant tree in our wooded landscape thousands of years ago they have largely disappeared as a result of a range of struggles. Hindering its efforts to survive is a long history of humans selecting in favour of trees such as oak, ash and hazel in our woods.
The Small leaved lime is stately and tall, albeit a naturally messy looker, it has bright, lime green leaves that burst into spring followed by flowers in July which produce beautiful clusters giving off a perfume that will stop you in your tracks. They play an important role in providing insects with nectar at a time when most woodland trees have finished flowering. Its ‘just got out of bed’ untidy look creates wonderful wildlife niches for insects, birds and small mammals, including bats. These are remarkable trees, resistant to grey squirrel damage, that we should be putting back into our landscape with enthusiasm."
Trees are more than just part of our landscape, they are living connections to our history and wildlife. Each species offers a variety of benefits, from supporting biodiversity to improving soil health and storing carbon for generations to come. If you are planning a tree planting project or simply want advice on caring for your trees, FWAG East is here to help. Our team can provide expert guidance to ensure your trees thrive and deliver the greatest environmental benefits.
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