The Coed Y Brenin Arboretum
Or is it a Forest Garden, or just a Picnic Site?
Given the great number of species originally planted in Coed Y Brenin and the fact that it was a relatively early plantation with an experimental value that provided the opportunity to trial many varieties of trees and learn from their development in different conditions, it was entirely logical that it should include an arboretum. So for every species planted, an example would be included in the arboretum.
above: the Afon Babi. All will become clear below!
This meant that a visiting forester could wander through the various coupes1, assessing the performance of different species in different conditions and aspects and relate them to the situation of their own forest or landscape. If they were unsure of which species they were looking at (and some conifer species, particularly pines, are not obviously differentiated) they could break off a small sample and then go and “look it up” in the arboretum. Here, when they had identified a tree with similar characteristics, they would find by its trunk, a small stake with a metal plaque and a number on it. By consulting their plan of the arboretum they would then be able to identify their selected species.
above: plan of the arboretum. The numbers relate to the species listed in the example page shown below.
This is a marvellous and laudable conception- what a thoroughly good idea! Sadly, the practical application did not quite match up to the worthy sentiment. For an arboretum, you need a piece of reasonably good, reasonably level ground, with plenty of space for a hundred or so trees to grow well, as in, BIG. The land chosen for the Coed Y Brenin arboretum was anything but.. being squeezed into the pointy end of an acute angled triangle, on a steep, uneven hillside. It must have worked quite well at first, when the trees were young and relatively small…
Dennis Wheeler2, a forester who had just retired when I met him in the 1980s, gave me a photocopy of a Forestry Commission draft document (with “not for sale or general distribution” on its cover) describing the arboretum and containing both a plan and species list of just over one hundred different species. I’m not sure if this ever saw the light of day- certainly, the arboretum was unknown to most local folk who were surprised when I mentioned it and passed on copies of the document.
above: species list of the Coed Y Brenin Arboretum, page two. What an impressive list of species, even if they are mainly exotics. Still, what a fantastic resource it would have made today, if it had been planned, managed and maintained with more care.
Its a great shame that more space wasn't given to this enterprise originally as it would have been a tremendous resource, certainly of national interest and probably international as well. Unfortunately, when I first went to look at it in the mid eighties, it was not in a happy state- some of the specimens looked like they were not particularly good in the first place, had died and not been replaced, others were clearly on their way out, some had blown over and, given the severely limited space, as the trees grew, the more dominant species were shading out the weaker.
above: a cryptomaria, leaves/needles have an ancient look to them. This is one of the original trees and is a fine specimen.
This depleted, overgrown arboretum seems to have been a bit of an embarrassment to the Forestry Commission District management and, as with many of the “problems” of Coed Y Brenin and Dovey Forest (which is included in the same District) was ignored. Due to the turnover of managerial staff and the military habitat of promoting people into different districts so they weren't commanding a work force they had previously been part of, this tactic worked well for the individuals concerned, allowing them to simply pass on the responsibility to whoever came next. Often, whoever came next chose to ignore the problem as well.
At some point in the late 1980s, someone came up with the bright idea of just renaming it, so rather than trying to preserve and rebuild the arboretum which was a complex and time consuming task, it became a Forest Garden. Obviously the person responsible had never heard of forest gardens as first described by Robert Hart.3
No matter, signs went up proudly announcing the fact, causing confusion for those visitors to Coed Y Brenin in the 1990s who had actually heard of forest gardening. The then District Manager must have been a bit baffled by an increasing number of people calling in at his offices in Dolgellau to ask why there were so many conifers in the Forest Garden. Rather than fidning out what a forest garden actually was and perhaps renaming the arboretum, his response was to send in a gang with chainsaws and cut more of the conifers down, further depleting the original stock.
above: Wellingtonia, again, a survivor of the original arboretum, perhaps not looking so happy as the cryptomaria.
Today it is still called a Forest Garden but with a new emphasis on two trails, one accessible to wheelchair users, the other not, that wind through the site. Its grown some benches and a fair bit of signage, produced by Signs Workshop, just up the main road at Maesgwm, on Douglas Fir boards sourced from the forest
A number of other trees have been added to the collection, in a rather haphazard way, bearing no relation to what was actually planted in Coed Y Brenin. So a smooth barked maple makes an appearance, along with a golden larch, which, for some reason, has been planted in the shade of a giant Norway spruce and some self-seeded hazel. This seems a bit odd for a light loving species and the larch looks pretty dead.
above: a later addition, a golden larch, looking rather sorry for itself.
Despite the loss of its original purpose and a great missed opportunity, its still an interesting walk. The difficulty with the site being too small had been overcome by removing many of the trees so it now feels quite open and light with the Afon Las (also known as the Afon Babi4, babbling noisily along the lower boundary before tumbling into cascades between massive boulders and then disappearing into a narrow gorge under Bont Llam Yr Ewig. The original trees that remain are obvious from their size- they are BIG- and some at least have been labelled in one way or another; they are impressive specimens and worth a look at.
above: another big tree but this one lacks identifiction…
So there you have it- if your arboretum is too difficult for you to manage, simply thin it out, turn it into a pleasant picnic site and give it a friendly name, even if its wrong!
Please feel free to leave comments. Thanks for reading. Hwyl!
coupe: a small area of forest within a compartment that can be harvested in a single operation; derived from the French couper, “cut”. The early Forestry Commission learned a lot from the French, who knew how to grow trees; they still do.
Dennis saved a load of early Forestry Commission documents from the skip and passed them on to me as I was interested. I intend to put these up on my web site when I can get round to it. For the moment, I’ve included a few pages from the Arboretum document for illustrative purposes. I’ve mentioned Dennis before in the newsletter below:
Robert Hart has gained some recognition since his death but remains a largely unsung hero of permaculture design, agro-forestry and forest gardening. With Robert Sholto Douglas he wrote the first book on agro-forestry, initiating a whole new practice of landscape management. He was also responsible for adapting and applying the idea of tropical forest gardens to temperate climates. I met him once at a permaculture convergence- a lovely man and a bit of a genius.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Hart_%28horticulturist%29
There are some good folk tales of the Afon Las (blue river) otherwise known as the Afon Babi (Baby) and the bridge below the arboretum known as Bont Llam Yr Ewig, or Bridge of the Deer’s Leap. I will probably retell them here at some point. You could let me know through the comments box if you are interested.