National Park Grant Scheme funding boost helps to safeguard the future of Benmore Botanic Garden’s Giant Sequoia Avenue
Described as one of the finest entrances to a botanical garden anywhere in the world, the magnificent Giant Sequoia Avenue at Benmore Botanic Garden in Argyll was in desperate need of innovative actions or risked being lost to the nation through climate change.
Consultancy work began on the site in 2019 to assess the damage and found that the 150-year-old trees were suffering from water logging and compaction. Following this, Benmore Botanic Garden applied for the National Park Grant Scheme once plans were in place to address the issues and mitigate risk.
Credit: Peter Baxter
£12,000 was awarded to the project through the National Park Grant Scheme, allowing critical work to be carried forward including geo injection and air lancing to address these issues and safeguard the future of the Avenue for future generations.
The funding went towards the purchase of roughly 270 cubic metres of composted bark – or 42% of the supply needed to treat the ground around the 21 Giant Seqouias.
Composted bark. Credit: RBGE Staff
Areas of ground where geo injection and air lancing has been completed now have a much reduced risk for both waterlogging and compaction.
Peter Baxter, Curator at Benmore Botanic Garden, said: ‘The investment the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park Authority has made enabled this very important work to push forward in a timely manner. It is very rare that any one garden would take on a project of such scale – but the avenue is such a magnificent feature and the trees so important. The investment and hard work in delivering the project will be worthwhile.’
Work will continue along the full length of the Avenue into 2022 and 2023.