REVIEW: The Greenwood Trees by Christina Hart-Davies

Cover and spine of "The Greenwood Trees" by Christina Hart Davies

This is a review of 'The Greenwood Trees - History, Folklore and uses of Britain's trees' by Christina Hart-Davies - a slim volume that is essentially about the native trees of the UK.  

By the time I got to the end I realised that the book she has written and illustrated reminded me a lot of many of the early Herbals - which describe and identify plants - including illustrations - and identify what they are associated with and what they are used for. Both her previous book and this one are focused on telling you what a plant/tree is good for as well as what it looked like. It goes way, way beyond a book of botanical illustrations

It is in effect a contemporary version of what we refer to in botanical literature as Herbals. ​It is packed full of information and illustrations about the different native trees. What's more Christina has written all the text, which references facts and beliefs from very many of the books from the past - from Dioscorides onwards - and painted all the illustrations in watercolour 

Overall, the book is enormously informative, very interesting and very accessible - it and can be enjoyed by young and old, by those interested in nature and trees and by those interested in different ways of representing and painting trees.

For example it includes snippets of information e.g.

• 90% of a tree is dead; and 
• the number of acorns buried each year by birds and small mammals in the UK may total 1.5 billion!

I've been buying books about Trees for some time and I can honestly say this book has actually taught me more about UK trees - and more quickly - than many of the others.

Who knew the aspen was one of the earliest trees to re-colonise the UK after the Ice Age?

Aspen Trees in Autumn © Christina Hart-Davies

The book covers 37 different varieties of tree, of which 31 are natives of the UK i.e. they were around 6,000 years BC when the waters started to rise again after the Ice Age. 

The book has five sections:

• a brief history of trees in Britain - which is absolutely fascinating. I learned a LOT about how trees grew and were managed over the different periods within UK History!
• people and trees - this section took me back nearly 60 years to my primary school days when I was learning about how early man lived and the sorts of tools and products he used to make from trees.
• trees and beliefs - about the various tree spirits, creation myths, symbols and festivals associated with trees
• things that live in trees - about the community of insects, birds and small mammals that live in and with trees - as well as the fungi and parasites also living in trees and in some cases attacking them.
• The Greenwood Trees i.e. the very old trees associated with the Wildwood. This is by far the biggest section. This section also has the most botanical illustrations which are quite delightful. 

About "The Greenwood Trees"
​

Whitebeam Berries © Christina Hart-Davies

Marking the 800th anniversary of the Forest Charter, award-winning botanical artist Christina Hart-Davies celebrates our long relationship with trees. Since pre-historic times they have provided us with shelter, fuel, medicine, food and even the air we breathe. They have tanned leather, dyed cloth and made everything from cathedrals to clothes-pegs. We have told stories about them, admired their magnificent beauty and woven them into our spiritual lives. Following A Wild Plant Year, which recorded the folklore and cultural history of our native wildflowers, in The Greenwood Trees Christina looks at the history, folklore and virtues of our native trees – and a few well-known introductions too – all illustrated with her exquisitely detailed watercolour paintings.

The book was published at the end of last month by Two Rivers Press who published Christina's earlier book A Wild Plant Year: The History, Folklore and Uses of Britain’s Flora

It is naturally printed on paper which is FSC certified as coming from a responsible source!

Title: The Greenwood Trees: History, Folklore and Virtues of Britain’s Trees
Author/Artist: Christina Hart-Davies 
format: paperback
size: 200 x 200 mm / 7.875 x 7.875 in (square format)
ISBN: 978‑1‑909747‑40‑1
pages: 120
price: £ 15.99
Publication date: September 2018

You can obtain the book as follows:

• an ordinary copy from Two Rivers Press direct
• a signed copy (with postage included) direct from Christina Hart-Davies 
• an unsigned copy from Amazon UK

About Christina Hart-Davies
​

Christina Hart-Davies with her most recent RHS Gold Medal display of "Common British Corticolous Lichens"

Christina Hart-Davies has been a professional botanical artist for 30+ years. 

• She has five RHS Gold Medals (4 for mosses and lichens - in 1984, 1986, 1988 and 2018 -and one for orchids - in 1992).  The last two lichen Gold Medals were 20 years apart - proving (like Kathy Pickles did) that it's never too late to have another go! 
• She has also illustrated for a wide variety of prestigious clients and publications. Her artwork has been extensively published. Publishers she has worked with include Crowood Press; Dorling Kindersley;  Elm Tree Books; Gilgamesh Publishing; Hamlyn; HarperCollins; Michael Joseph; Longman; Macmillan/RHS; New Holland; Pyramid/Octopus; Two Rivers Press; Virgin Publishing. Publications include: BBC Wildlife Magazine; British Wildlife; Kew Magazine; Successful Gardening (Eaglemoss Publications); Sunday Times
• She was a Founder Member - and Honorary Secretary for its first ten years - of the Society of Botanical Artists. ​
• Botanical artist to an expedition to the rainforests of Sumatra
• She has artwork in The Hunt and The Shirley Sherwood Collections - and mine (I own two of her works)! 
• She is also an occasional tutor on various courses in the UK

​You can see work done for this book in her current exhibition Treesome at the Sir Harold Hillier Gardens - which finishes on Sunday 7th October. (see Treesome - Harold Hillier Gardens, Hampshire)

Apple by Christina Hart-Davies (there are a number of similar illustrations in the book for different trees)