The trees planted by Capability Brown are returning to the landscape, replanted by the National Trust to mark the three hundredth anniversary of the iconic landscape designer’s birth this year.
Brown was known for creating far-reaching vistas in the rolling landscapes he designed, and used carefully-placed copses of trees to frame views and provide focal points. Many have been lost over the years, but now under a new programme of tree-planting some of Brown’s most famous views will be recreated.
The first tree to go in was a Cedar of Lebanon at Croome Court in Worcestershire, a favourite of Capability Brown and one he often used in his designs. It replaces the original which was lost to arable farming in the 1900s, and is the first of about 500 trees to be replanted during this year at the estate. It’s part of a long-term project to replant about 10,000 trees will be replanted at Croome using GPS technology to make sure they are lined up with those on the 18th century plans of the park. Other National Trust properties replanting Capability Brown’s trees include Sheffield Park in East Sussex, Stowe in Buckinghamshire, Wimpole in Cambridgeshire and Dinefwr in Carmarthenshire.