Dr., Dave Dawson, a local environmental scientist and advisor to Friends of Wimbledon Park, will lead a “tree walk” in Wimbledon Park. starting from the Home Park Road entrance at 2pm on Sunday 26th October.
All are welcome. There is no need to book.
There was much arboretum planting in the park until around 30 years ago and there is a guide to this on the “treetalk” app. We’ll locate these trees and find out about their origin. Two reference books are helpful: Alan Mitchell’s Field Guide to the Trees of Britain and Northern Europe and Owen Johnson & David More’s Collins Tree Guide, bring along your copy if you have one of these. We also have an ancient wood, Ashen Grove Wood, alongside the big playground and an old planted wood, Horse Close Wood, on the northern edge of the park. Here, we can learn about the woodland history of Capability Brown’s Wimbledon Park. There’s an 80-year-old hedgerow on the boundary with the golf course in the north-west of the park and other more recent hedge and woodland planting around the perimeter of the park. We’ll hear about the wildlife these support and how to manage these for their natural value.
This is also a great chance to learn about the rich and varied heritage and ecology of Wimbledon Park. We hope to see you there!’
