Perthshire - Big Tree Country
from PershireBigTreeCountry.co.uk

Travel along the Highland edge in Perthshire, through the little resort towns of Crieff and Dunkeld, or go by Pitlochry and Aberfeldy, where the hills are all around, and you cannot fail to notice the way that trees add character to the landscapes. The Lowland farmlands are sheltered by copses and wooded knolls where pheasants clatter. Where the hills close in, the crags by Dunkeld are clothed by conifers, notably larches. The slopes for miles around turn a curious earthy orange before these larches drop their needles in late autumn. Perthshire, in short, is a place where trees get noticed.

But landscapes change and much as we like to think of Scotland as wild and untouched, long-gone generations of farmers, hunters, woodsmen and industrialists all made their mark on native woodland, so that many parts of the country three centuries ago were bare and open. Not until the 18th century and the time of the improving landowners, seeking ways to profit from their vast landholdings, did new forests really get under way in Scotland - nowhere more so than in Perthshire.

The seat of the Dukes of Atholl is at Blair Castle, north of Pitlochry. Generations of these so-called ‘Planting’ Dukes shaped the landscape seen today, especially around Dunkeld. Between 1738 and 1830, the family planted around 27 million conifers in the area. Some even say some of the rocky faces of Craig a Barns, just north of Dunkeld, were planted using cannon loaded with larch seed! Also in 1738, young European larches were collected in the Tyrol to be grown on at Dunkeld as the source of seed for these large scale plantings. One of these original trees survives - the Parent Larch, planted near the west end of Dunkeld Cathedral and the ancestor of many of those trees seen on the Atholl estates. See it as part of a gentle ramble - signposted and waymarked - from Dunkeld.

Do not think that Perthshire is clothed only in larches. Another man who influenced the landscape today was born in Scone, near Perth. David Douglas became famous as a plant collector. (You can find a memorial to him by the old church at Scone.) He introduced around 200 species of plants, many of which have pride of place in gardens nationwide. But that’s another story. Among his introductions was the Sitka spruce, the basis of modern forestry in this country. He also gave his name to the Douglas fir. Hereabouts, there is one Douglas fir in particular you should put on those walking shoes to see. The National Trust for Scotland cares for an interesting and varied woodland around the River Braan, also near Dunkeld. It’s signposted as The Hermitage from the A9 and easy to find. Walk by the river, through the woods to find one of the tallest tree in Britain, at 212 ft (64.5m).

There are plenty of other tall trees around, with some fine specimens around Pitlochry, for example, but if you want more British record breakers, then Diana’s Grove at Blair Castle has some monsters. The plantings here are really a kind of pinetum, a 19th century gardening fashion which really took off as a result of Douglas’s introductions. At least twenty trees reach 150ft (45.7m) metres or more. Visiting these sites alone would justify Perthshire’s label of ‘Big Tree Country’ - but this area has plenty more tree records.

To see one of the most spectacular, drive out to the north-east of Perth, enjoying the rich farmlands. En route to Blairgowrie on the A93, just over the River Isla you will find a hedge by the road. Suggesting you can’t miss it is an understatement. One third of a mile long, it was planted in 1745. Now those beech seedlings are 100ft (30m) high. Yet they still form a dense hedge, with a flat face on the roadside and are pruned by one of those huge extending ladder contraptions usually used for tending tall street-lights. Small wonder the Meikleour Beech Hedge is in the Guinness Book of Records.

You think that Perthshire only does high trees? Make another interesting excursion, by way of Aberfeldy and westwards, past the most inappropriate sign for miles around (pointing to the little community of Dull), then turn out of the Strath for the head of Glen Lyon and the village of Fortingall. In the local churchyard there stands, with some support to its gnarled branches, a yew tree which it would be forgivable for describing as looking a little past its prime. Small wonder. This tree may be 3000 years old and is perhaps the oldest tree in Europe.

It seems appropriate that this ancient growing thing is one of Scotland’s truly native conifers or needle-bearing trees. Strictly speaking, there are only three species. Scots pine and juniper are the other two and to see them grow naturally together, take the road to Rannoch that runs westwards beyond the mountain Schiehallion. Yes, it does sound like The Lord of the Rings, but the Black Wood of Rannoch is a remnant of native forest and certainly has its own magic. Here you will find naturally growing Scots pines with their characteristic red limbs and an understorey of juniper with blaeberry - home to special birds such as the crossbill and the scarce capercaillie, as well as mammals such as the hard to glimpse pine marten. These are big trees as well, in the sense that they were a main feature of the ancient upland landscapes of Scotland.

As you can gather, Perthshire and its Big Tree Country theme takes in both native and introduced species in today’s countryside. (Besides, the definitions are blurred. Norway spruce - the typical Christmas tree - grew in Scotland until the last Ice Age but has been around as a re-introduction for half a millennium.)

Tour around Perthshire and you start seeing trees as links with the past. Visit the Falls of Bruar, just off the A9 10 miles (16km) north of Pitlochry and the larches there which shade the tumbling waters were planted after Scotland’s national poet Robert Burns appealed in verse ‘The Humble Petition of Bruar Water’ to the Duke of Atholl for trees to make the slopes less bare. After the poet’s death, the Duke created a wild garden in Burns memory, complete with paths and bridges which still offer fine views today. On the same 1787 Highland Tour, Burns also admired the Falls of Moness above Aberfeldy. The birches by the river-gorge inspired his love song ‘The Birks of Aberfeldy’. The birches are still there, along with other broad-leaved species, in this romantic spot.

Trees interweave with history. The native oaks in the mixed woodlands along the steep slopes of the River Garry once heard the sound of gunfire and wild Highland war cries - for this is the Pass of Killiecrankie where in 1689 the government forces fell back before the charge of the Highlanders in the first of the Jacobite battles. A few minutes’ drive to the south, the Queen’s View over Loch Tummel offers one of Scotland’s finest panoramas and recalls Queen Victoria’s visits to the area. (On the way, she commented in her diary on her descent by the lochs above Dunkeld to the south: “They are surrounded by trees and woods, of which there is no end, and are very pretty”.)

By way of waymarked walks and locally available leaflets to keep you right, you can pay your respects to Neil Gow’s oak, at Birnam on the very spot where the famous Scottish fiddler composed many of his finest tunes. Or you can view the twisted heavy boughs of another oak at Birnam, said to the last surviving tree from Birnam Wood which played its part in Shakespeare’s Macbeth. Or, for that matter, visit lots more sites with spectacular trees in this favoured part of Scotland. One feature is for certain. The trees themselves will offer a different spectacle depending on when you choose to visit.

Lady Mary’s Walk in Crieff, with its mature stands of oak, beech and lime will take your breath away in autumn. Or you could lose yourself in midsummer greenery at Weem Wood by Aberfeldy. Winter brings out the deep changeless green of the conifers which Douglas first found in his North American journeys, while a particular moment in spring brings a fast-changing, hard to capture purple to the swelling buds of the birches by the falls above Aberfeldy. Big Tree Country is an all-season spectacle. And Perthshire is where to see it.

Visit our website dedicated to the forests and woodlands of Perthshire!
www.perthshirebigtreecountry.co.uk