Batsford Arboretum
The Cotswolds' Secret Garden. One of the jewels of the Cotswolds and one of the largest private collections of trees and shrubs in the country.
About Batsford Arboretum
Situated one and a quarter miles west of Moreton-in-Marsh (Gloucestershire – UK), Batsford Arboretum is tucked away on a south facing escarpment of the famous Cotswold Hills. Find out on this website about the history of the arboretum and the treasure of rare and unusual plants and trees it contains. See what we are doing for conservation and what we are planning for the future.
The collections at Batsford cover a wide range of plants from around the world but have an emphasis on the Far East.
There are over 3050 labelled specimens including about 1600 different trees, shrubs and bamboo.
Prominent collections are listed below.
Acer (Maples)
Another large and diverse genus. This is really a collection within a collection; there are the species and the Japanese Maples. The latter are all cultivars or varieties of Acer palmatum or Acer japonicum, of which there are a great many at Batsford. These vary in size from those with a low dwarf habit to small trees. Generally known for their attractive, usually lobed leaves and especially known for their fiery autumn colours. Some species have precocious spring flowers, an attractive display before the leaves begin to unfurl.
Bamboo
The bamboo collection has an interesting historical importance in that it was one of the first comprehensive collections in the UK. The creator of the original wild garden, A.B. Freeman-Mitford had travelled widely in the Far East and was an authority on this genus. There are still some of the original plantings left but these are slowly being reduced as they often die after flowering. However, the collection has been increased over the last decade bringing it back to a representative level.
Magnolias
One of the most beautiful and stunning of plants when in flower, all the more so in that the large flowers often open before the leaves and are therefore very obvious. As a group they form an important part of the spring colour in the arboretum although some do flower in the summer. It is a primitive genus. The flowers do not have differentiated petals or sepals like an ordinary flowering plant. What look like the petals are in fact known as 'tepals'. As a whole the Magnolias have flowers that are very firm in texture, especially the summer flowerers. Quite a number are scented.
Pinus (Pines)
This genus gives an important all-year-round evergreen interest to the arboretum and is representative of the genus from around the Northern Hemisphere. The spring highpoint arrives when all pines produce their attractive ‘candles' of fresh new growth. Later the new cones appear in a large variety of size and form. They are always of great curiosity to adults and children alike.
Prunus
In particular the group known as the Sato-Zakura or Japanese Cherries. This collection is an important one at Batsford giving a mass of spring colour with the blossoms and unfurling leaves. In the autumn the leaves colour up with saturated reds, russets and yellows. Sato-Zakura means village cherry alluding to the fact that these plants have been bred and cultivated in Japan for centuries, so long in fact that the parentage is almost totally obscure. As a group they are often very beautiful. They are also very variable in size, colour and flower form. The earliest cultivars bloom in March and the last in May, giving a long season of colour. Wild Japanese Cherries sometimes carry the name Jama-Zakura meaning mountain cherry.
Quercus (Oaks)
This genus is extremely variable with some species being no more than a large bush and others which become magnificent specimens nearly a hundred feet (30m) tall and capable of living to a great age. The larger trees often have valuable timber, resistant to rot and valued for furniture making. Noted often for their acorns produced in the autumn and their architectural leaves which often turn to stunning colours in the autumn.
Sorbus (Mountain Ash or Rowans and Whitebeams)
These very ornamental trees split very roughly into two groups; the Mountain Ash that have divided or ‘pinnate' leaves and the Whitebeam group that have entire leaves only occasionally lobed. Tidy growers, they are particularly well known for their large range of autumn berries that may be coloured white, yellow, pink, orange, red or russet. Most of the Mountain Ash group end the autumn with their foliage a blaze of colour amongst the berries.
Conservation at Batsford falls broadly into two categories; botanical conservation of exotic plant varieties and conservation of native flora and fauna. The former is the main priority but with such a varied habitat there is plenty of scope to develop the latter as well.
Global conservation of plant material embraces the importance of maintaining a large genetic variability (biodiversity). When plants are grown commercially they are often propagated from a limited source of mother plants with a limited gene pool. As a result we have to try to give nature a helping hand.
Contact information
- Phone: 01386 701441
- Email: arboretum@batsfordfoundation.co.uk
- Web: www.batsarb.co.uk
- Address: Batsford Arboretum, Batsford Park, Moreton-in-Marsh, Gloucestershire, GL56 9QB
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