Maidstone - Leeds Castle (Kent)

Giant Redwood - September 2020

Steve wrote to say "I've been a fan of your site a while and used it to track down Redwoods. Luckily my wife shares my enthusiasm and is happy to divert off to a nearby tree when we are going somewhere. When I see one I normally check your site to see if someone has added it, and they normally have! Today, however, I think I may have had my first sighting that is not on your site. I could be wrong but I can't see them listed. I was on a Segway event with my wife at Leeds Castle near Maidstone in Kent, and spotted two Giant Redwoods that are about 15m away from a service road and probably about 20 years old. There is a nearby plaque next to an oak tree that looks to be a similar age and was probably planted at the same time and that says 'Year of the Tree 2000', so I suspect my guess at 20 years is not far off. Exact coordinates of the trees: Tree on the left - 51.253306, 0.628350 Tree on the right - 51.253248, 0.628449 Also out on the Segway run itself I think I saw some more fairly newly planted trees. A run of about 4 or 5 are also planted here 51.249109, 0.623828, but I am not 100% sure as we drove past them fairly fast. I'm about 80% sure they were 4-5 year old Giant Redwoods." Thanks Steve, congratulations on your first find! It's great to hear that you and your wife share an enthusiam for Redwoods. Steve originally wrote in May 2020 to tell us about his trip to California in 2019

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Marcus wrote to us in July 2023 to let us know; "I have recently seen the 2 redwoods at Leeds castle on your website and I believe they are the ones I grew from seed. We bought the seeds from Armstrong woods in Northern California in 1998. They were then taken Leeds castle on the 5th of October 2004." Intruiged by this news I asked if Marcus had any photographs of the planting of the trees and he very kindly sent these photos below. Thank you Marcus, what a marvellous achievement! It's great to hear from someone who has also grown these trees from seeds and then planted them in a publicly accessible place, thank you for letting me know.

Leeds Castle gardeners planting Marcus's Giant Redwoods - October 2004