Trees have been a lifelong interest for Dr Mary Forrest from her time studying in the Botanic Gardens, through cataloging tree and shrub collections in Ireland to her many years as a horticultural lecturer in University College Dublin.
Though trees native to Ireland number 17 – 20 species, trees introduced over many centuries from the temperate regions of the world number in the hundreds, not to mention the many varieties of trees selected by the nursery trade both abroad and in Ireland. In this lecture we look at a selection of these trees, with an emphasis on those suitable for a suburban garden.
This lecture was held on Saturday 8th March 2025. Mary Montaut provides a report:
There was a great air of anticipation evident in the large audience waiting to hear Mary
Forrest give us the first lecture of Irish Tree Week 2025. Their hopes were more than
fulfilled by the fascinating and erudite lecture which Mary delivered, with her own beautiful
photographs as illustrations of the ‘Natives and Honoured Guest’ trees which she had
chosen for this event.She began with the Native Trees which she had chosen for us. She noted that many Irish
place names reflect the long provenance of these important trees in Ireland. Though they
were largely familiar friends, I think we all learned to observe much more about the detail
of their leaves and seeds, as her photographs showed us not only the structural beauty of
the trees, but also the identification points of their leaves, including the familiar oak and
ash of our landscapes. She moved on to smaller native trees which are suitable for our
gardens: the rowans and hawthorns which give such excellent garden value with their
flowers and fruits, and their benefits for biodiversity.Among non-native but long-standing ‘Guest’ trees, Mary had chosen very aptly – both
street trees like the familiar London plane, and smaller trees suitable for suburban
gardens. She paid particular attention to the maples (Acer spp) with their beautiful forms,
bark and leaf colours. Coming onto the flowering cherries (Prunus spp), she paused a
moment to give a tip about plants named after Charles Sprague Sargent, who was the first
director of the Arnold Arboretum (Havard USA), for their excellence. I could see people
around the audience busily noting the special trees Mary was describing. It was clear that
she had chosen her particular trees very aptly for the audience, which contained both
horticultural experts and plain gardeners, and the applause showed how much her
presentation was appreciated by us all. She accepted many questions, but there was too
little time for all the interests she had aroused. It was a superb event from our Honoured
Chairman.
Mary Montaut
