As summer merges into autumn, so the colours of the Pinetum turn from green to red. When the leaves of the Kastsura (Cercidiphyllum japonicum) start to go red they give off a wonderful candyfloss smell of burnt sugar.
The warm summer has started the annual colour change in the Pinetum earlier than in other years. Our liquidambars started to change colour in August, and our other broadleaves will follow soon. Towards the end of the month look out for the taxodium or swamp cypress around Marshal's Lake as they take on a beautiful russet colour.
The Katsura mentioned above can be found on the opposite side of the lake from the Visitors Centre, near the zig zag in the path. About 100 m further on and you will find a groups of Liquidambars with an information board next to one.
Julian Dormady our Tree Team Supervisor says
"Wild flowers - devil's bit scabious currently looking lovely as you go up the sunken track on the right hand side, and also yellow rattle all over the site. We will wait until the seed has dispersed and then flail cut the grasslands and remove the cuttings. This is the mechanical way of creating the same effects as grazing, keeping the nutrient levels in the soil low - it helps the grassland to stay full of a mixture of plants rather than letting one type dominate. Heather is looking lovely too all over the site.
