Leafing through a masterpiece

Whether you're a tree lover in theory or in practice, Hugh Johnson's beautifully written homage to all things arboreal is sure to inspire, writes JANE POWERS

‘ALONG THE FOG-BOUND straits and inlets . . . where the whales and log rafts loom intermittently out of the gloom, the spruces grow trunk to trunk to the water’s edge. Melancholy ramrods of trees almost 300 feet high . . .”

The lines above are not from one of the Scandinavian novels du jour, but from a completely revised, new edition of Hugh Johnson’s Trees, first published in 1973.

The 400-page book – a guide to all things tree-ish – vibrates with elegant writing and luminous photographs. It has been my constant companion for the past few days: at breakfast and lunch, on the sofa, in bed, and now, on my desk. I can’t tear myself away from it.

After attentively reading the substantial 75-page section on trees in general – their anatomy, life cycle, history, uses in forestry and gardens, and so on – I found myself moving without a break to the inventory of 600 species.

Normally, after a quick investigation, I visit this department in most plant guides only for reference, but Johnson’s words – poetic, interesting and gently informative – drew me further and further, and filled me with a kind of yearning. I longed to see those lugubrious spruces in their homeland (in Alaska, although the setting is Nordic grey), especially since they are Sitka spruces, the unloved (and after Johnson’s description, surely misunderstood) arboreal settlers in the Irish landscape.

Sitka spruce was introduced from America to Europe by Scotsman David Douglas. In Ireland a tree grown from seed he collected still exists at Curraghmore in Waterford, and is the tallest spruce in the country. It was planted in the 1830s. Alas, the life of Douglas, a fearless plant hunter who travelled with only tea for comfort, was short and harsh. Aged only 35, and after having been blinded in one eye in British Columbia, he fell into a bull pit in Hawaii and was killed by a wild bull.

Johnson’s book contains such gems of information on every page. He is also a master at capturing the character of each species – perhaps because he brings his analytical skills as a wine writer to his tree-writing. Here he is on magnolias: “Every magnolia is the apple of someone’s eye. To be conspicuous but to manage an air of frailty is a good recipe. To have prominent flower buds and fleshy petals is no disadvantage.” And on cherries: “The flowering cherry is not so much a tree as an event: a milestone in the year which even the most ungardening citizen recognises.”

His deep enthusiasm for trees is so infectious that I found myself wishing my sixth-of-an-acre garden would magically expand tenfold or more. Indeed, I wished I could follow the advice he quotes, given by the late banker and gazillionaire (and rhododendron man) Lionel de Rothschild, to a city gardening club: “Gentlemen, no garden, however small, should be without its two acres of rough woodland.” As Johnson points out: “For most of the human race those must be two acres of the mind.”

Whether your woodland is real or in your mind, this book is the perfect mentor and friend to help you plant it and delight in it.

FIVE THINGS YOU MAY NOT KNOW ABOUT TREES

Most feeding roots of most trees are within six inches of the surface.

Most tree roots form associations with mycorrhizae or ‘fungal friends’. The roots supply them with sugars, and in turn they supply the roots with soil minerals.

The oldest living tree in the world, a bristlecone pine in California, is 4,900 years old.

Sitka spruce can grow to 300ft tall. Its wood is used to form the nose cones of Trident missiles. Some 2 million acres of it have been planted in Ireland and Britain.

A mature oak (180 years old) in the Allier region at the centre of France can fetch €22,900 at auction.

FIVE THINGS TO CONSIDER WHEN PLANTING TREES

Consider the shape of the tree, before you decide on the species. Take a photograph of the proposed location, and draw in the ideal to fill the space and complement the surroundings. Then choose accordingly.

Every tree in the garden should be placed for a reason besides looking “nice” where it is. The Japanese give each tree a title such as ‘The Tree of the Sun at Teatime’, or the ‘Mobile-Phone-Mast-Hiding-Tree’. Each tree must have a raison d’être.

Shelter belts should, if possible, be of native species, to blend in with the landscape.

Plant young trees: they establish more easily, are a joy to watch growing and, because they are more vigorous, they catch up with semi-mature trees in a few years.

Keep the soil around the base of young trees free from grass, weeds or other growth, as they compete with the network of feeding roots for nutrients. jpowers@irishtimes.com

Trees – A Lifetime’s Journey Through Forests, Woods and Gardens by Hugh Johnson is published by Mitchell Beazley (€37.80)