Skip to main content
Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum

Blog - Silk Wood Community Planting Project

Spring in Full Swing

May is the perfect time to enjoy the breathtaking spring blooms at Westonbirt. The arboretum comes alive with a burst of vibrant colours and sweet scents including the Rhododendrons, with so many plants in full bloom. It’s a great chance to take in the beauty of the bluebells, especially in the cool, shady areas of Silk Wood.

View Full Post

Tree of the month: Wild cherry

Each month we’re going to bring you a profile of one of the tree species being planted in the Silk Wood Community Planting Project. This month it's the Wild cherry...

View Full Post

Planting 6,700 trees with the help of community groups

Local community groups, schools and colleges joined forces to help plant 3,400 trees at Westonbirt, The National Arboretum this November to April to reach a total of 6,700 since last year.

View Full Post

Installing a Tree Growth Monitoring Station

The Silk Wood Community Planting Project team were recently joined by Climate Scientists from Forest Research, the research agency of the Forestry Commission, to install a Tree Growth Monitoring Station at the Silk Wood Community Planting Project site.

View Full Post

Tree of the month: Alder

Each month we’re going to bring you a profile of one of the tree species being planted in the Silk Wood Community Planting Project. This month it's the Common alder...

View Full Post

Woodland Obscura

Lights, camera, Westonbirt! Students and artist Justin Quinnell explored the magic of pinhole photography, from giant eyeball cameras to self-made turmeric paper. They even used cream crackers and cans to capture stunning images of the trees they helped plant. See their incredible results!...

View Full Post

Tree of the month: Dogwood

Each month we’re going to bring you a profile of one of the tree species being planted in the Silk Wood Community Planting Project. This month it's Dogwood...

View Full Post

Community Collage

Want to learn more about how we connected creativity and ecology at Westonbirt? Read this full blog post to discover how we transformed a community planting project into a vibrant art experience with the Bristol Hospital Education Service!...

View Full Post

Tree of the month: Walnut

Each month we’re going to bring you a profile of one of the tree species being planted in the Silk Wood Community Planting Project. For the new year it’s the common walnut.

View Full Post

Storms & Sorbus

Winter storms took their toll, but our volunteers stepped up! Discover how we rallied together to repair the damage and ensure the survival of young trees at our planting site in our latest update.

View Full Post

The Sound of the Underground

Eco-acoustics, or acoustic ecology, is the study of sound in the environment – including human generated noise (anthrophony), sounds generated by nature (biophony), or even sounds of the earth such as wind, waves, and geological movements (geophony).

View Full Post

Tree of the month: Holly

Each month we’re going to bring you a profile of one of the UK native tree species being planted in the Silk Wood Community Planting Project. It wouldn’t be December without mentioning our most festive tree – the holly.

View Full Post

Tree of the month: Alder buckthorn

Each month we’re going to bring you a profile of one of the UK native tree species being planted in the Silk Wood Community Planting Project. For November, it’s the alder buckthorn.

View Full Post