This is the Cambridge University Botanic Garden, as the headline says. Well, of course, it is only part of the 40 acre garden. But it’s a view that I have come to know in some detail.
The tall tree on the left behind the wall is a Tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera). There is at least one other Tulip tree (younger and smaller) in the Garden, and looking at this tree makes me think of the cycle, as things grow and then reach the end of their life.
I read once that in early forests, Beech and Oak rotate on a long cycle of thousands of years. The oaks in an oak wood reach the end of their cycle and the faster growing beech take advantage of it and come to dominate the wood. Then they mature and eventually the oaks will gain a foothold in an open space (beech being more open and spreading than oaks) and so the cycle will turn another turn on the wheel.
The lighter green large mass to the left of the flowering Magnolia Sprengeri Diva is a Magnolia grandiflora. Here is a shot of the grandiflora bloom from last year
Over on the right are the stumps of Caucasian Wingnut trees. They had to be chopped back because they were in danger of falling, and a danger to the public therefore. Had they been in a private wood, I think the manager would have just let them do their thing. But here in the Garden the insurance risk is too great. From speaking to the gardeners I think the longer term idea is to let the youngsters that are in among the stumpy trees grow and eventually take over.
The stumps look harsher in a photo than in ‘real life’.
Photograph Works 