The Most Beautiful Trees in and Around Poole (and Where to See Them)
Poole Park
Poole is home to an impressive variety of trees, from huge old oaks, beeches and maritime pines to vibrant ornamental species that brighten its parks and streets. Whether you’re wandering through Poole Park, driving to Gravel Hill, or traversing another area in Poole, Poole’s most remarkable trees all have their own stories of resilience and beauty.
Poole Park is a much-loved public space where tree-lined paths frame the lakes and lawns. It is perhaps a cliché, but in autumn, much of the Park becomes like a painter’s palette, with many trees turning fiery reds, ambers, and golds.
The swamp cypress or bald cypress trees put on an amazing display, going a fiery red/orange colour, before dropping their needle-like leaves. The tree in the photo below, near the Swan Lake Cafe, is a particularly fine example, but you need to catch it before the winds arrive and it becomes bare. The rest of the year, it is green and pretty much blends into its surroundings.
Taxodium distichum ‘Nutans’, aka swamp cypress or bald cypress. This photo was taken on an autumnal, sunny, cold and frosty morning.
Beautiful autumn colours of bald cypress trees alongside the miniature railway track in Poole Park.
Autumn colours of young oak trees by the lake in Poole Park.
The yellow leaves of the ginkgo (ginkgo biloba) tree during a Poole Park autumn.
Another such tree in Poole Park is the ginkgo biloba tree, which grows alongside the public lavatories at the western end of the Park. In the autumn, this usually rather insignificant tree’s leaves turn bright yellow, before suddenly falling to the ground.
A perfecrly shaped oak tree in winter mist at Poole Park.
Poole Park’s famous Corsican pine ‘leaning tree’ on a frosty morning.
Poole Park’s ‘leaning tree’ on a moonlit night.
The Derby’s Corner Roundabout Flowering Cherry Tree
Some trees are unremarkable, going almost unnoticed until they suddenly reveal a fleeting flash of beauty, mostly in the spring or autumn. One such example is at Derby’s Corner Roundabout (bottom of Gravel Hill), where a surprising show of colour appears in springtime. This is via an old, twisted, flowering cherry tree, on the Fleetsbridge side of the roundabout, not far from the vets’ practice.
For a couple of weeks in the spring, this usually unremarkable tree produces clouds of delicate pink flowers, and behind it, large rhododendrons add a splash of vivid colour (see photo).
It’s surprises like this that are a reminder that even in the busiest areas in and around Poole, brief moments of natural beauty appear where you least expect them.
An old, flowering cherry tree and rhododendrons on Derby’s Corner Roundabout, at the foot of Gravel Hill.
Ancient strawberry tree (Arbutus unedo) in Parkstone Cemetery, Poole.
Gorgeous autumn colours of the pendant-like leaves of this flowering cherry tree, in Links Road, Poole.
I’ll be adding more examples of Poole’s most remarkable trees as and when I spot them, so keep watching this space!
