Category: Trees

Trees

The Magic of Ash

Wild Fen

I had never much connected with Ash trees before this year and yet over recent months, they have become one of my strongest plant allies.

Before I talk more about the wonderful qualities of Ash trees, let me first explain a little more about the way I connect with plants and how this process has evolved over the years. My interest in plants grew upon discovering some of the medicinal and healing properties of the herbs that I was growing within my garden. I spent much time researching their qualities and experimenting using them in teas, bath soaks and other herbal remedies. It was a brilliant way to kindle my fascination with plants and open my mind to the healing held within so much of that which is found around us.

Over the years, the way I connect with plants has become more intuitive. It often begins with me noticing a certain plant whilst out on a walk. It seems to catch my attention and I feel pulled to get to know more about it. Often now, if the species is new to me, I find the name comes to me somehow too, a knowing of the plant arising from somewhere within.

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Trees

The Magic of Box

Wild Fen

Box is one of our 5 native evergreen trees in the UK alongside Yew, Scots Pine, Juniper and Holly. It is now most commonly thought of as a neatly trimmed garden shrub however was once a more common feature in our woodlands.

Small pockets of ancient Box woodland remain in the UK. Most notably on Box Hill in Surrey with other patches found in the Chilterns and Cotswolds. They are truly magical places to visit and provide stable, protective environments for rare lichens and insects amongst other wildlife.

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Trees

The magic of Rowan

Wild Fen

Rowan trees are sometimes known as ‘Mountain Ash’ or ‘Lady of the Mountains’ due to their ability to grow higher up mountain sides than any of our other native trees. They grow quite happily in our towns and parks too, but survive, and even thrive in some of our harshest landscapes. They protect and nurture other trees around them in those environments too by improving the fertility of the soil, similar to Birch trees, earning them the title of ‘nurse tree’.

Rowan trees symbolise protection, resilience and adaptability and bringing them into the home for protection is a long standing tradition. Due to them standing high on the top of mountains they have also been connected with magic, intuition and connecting to other realms.

Rowan blossom in the Spring
Rowan berries in the Autumn

Ancient Rowan traditions

Making and hanging Rowan berry garlands around the home is an ancient tradition, believed to protect the space and invite good luck. Berries are gathered and garlands made as we head towards the Autumn months, crossing the threshold to the darker half of the year. Once dried, the garlands keep for years, bringing a rich pop of colour and magic to the home.

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Trees

The Magic of Beech

Wild Fen

The majestic Beech tree is a joy to witness and spend time with at any time of year. In Autumn she stands ablaze with her fiery orange crown, cloaking the forest floor beneath her with smooth, rusty leaves. Winter is a time to admire her smooth, grey bark before she unfurls her heart nurturing, protective green canopy in the Spring.

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Trees

The Magic of Elder

Wild Fen

As I write this at the beginning of June, Elder trees are amass with creamy white blossoms that fill hedgerows and paths with their delicate scent and rich abundance. I love this time of year, gathering a couple of flower heads along my walks, returning to enjoy a daily Elderflower Brew.

Abundant Elderflowers
A daily Elderflower brew
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Trees

The Magic of Hawthorn

Wild Fen

The Hawthorn is one of our most wild and magical native trees. Steeped in folklore they can live for up to 700 years. Once a custom to plant one in every garden for good luck, they are often found marking ancient sites and boundaries. They support a plethora of wildlife, including over 300 species of insects, doormice and other small mammals and many birds, including migrating species over the winter.

Come May the hedgerows are an abundant mass of creamy Hawthorn blossom earning them the name ‘May tree’ they flower just in time for Beltane – the festival of Nature’s abundance and fertility.

The Wild and Magickal May tree in bloom
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Trees

The Magic of Hazel

Wild Fen

Hazel trees (Corylus avellana) along with Willow and Elder are associated with the festival of Imbolc, celebrated as the first signs of Spring appear at the beginning of February. If you have been lucky enough to spot a Hazel tree at this time, you will understand why. Their bright yellow catkins are one of the first dashes of colour to return to our woodlands after the muted colours of Winter. At the end of Summer, the Hazel trees become a busy place to be, as their nuts are feasted on by squirrels, dormice and birds aplenty.

Both Hazel and Willow have similar properties that we can embrace as we transition out of the Winter season. Their branches are particularly flexible, and they grow quickly and with ease before other trees begin to stir, making them wonderful trees to work with to support new beginnings and when we need to connect with courage to overcome challenges.

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Trees

The Magic of Birch

Wild Fen

Within a life span similar to our own (which is relatively short in the tree world), Birch trees can completely transform their environments. A pioneer species, they have the ability to move into a piece of open ground, and transform it into woodland. Their deep roots can draw a vast amount of nutrients up through the earth which they return to the soil in the Autumn when they lose their leaves. This creates favourable conditions for other tree species to move in. For this reason, Birch trees symbolise new beginnings, growth and rebirth.

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Trees

The Magic of Yew

Wild Fen

A tree I really enjoy journeying with is the Yew tree, Taxus baccata. Typically associated with the Samhain season, I find myself really connecting with this tree in Spring too.

Like Willows, Yews are dioecious meaning that trees are either male or female. In the Spring the male trees produce an array of flowers covered with golden pollen. This pollen is carried by the wind to the smaller flowers of the female trees that will go on to produce the red berries in the Autumn.

Male Yew tree in Spring
The red berries on the Female tree in Autumn
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Trees

The Magic of Willow

Wild Fen

I feel very lucky to have received some wonderful books for my birthday this year including ‘Walking with Trees’ by Glennie Kindred (one of my favourite authors and nature connectors).

It has inspired me to form an even deeper connection with some of our lovely trees in Britain and I thought it might be nice to share some of my journeying here, starting with Willow a beloved tree all year round, but particularly special in Spring.

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