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Editor's Picks

Yoko and John planting acorns
"Japanese oaks" planted at Coventry Cathedral
Steve Potter | Dec 21, 2025
Group with Quercus macdougallii
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One of the first planted circles on Hampton Common, London, in partnership  with Orleans House Gallery 2025.  © Studio Ackroyd & Harvey
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Steve Potter | Dec 10, 2025

Plant Focus

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Chestnut-leaf oak in habitat and in cultivation

Tree of the year 2013 in France

The French magazine Terre sauvage and the Office national des forêts (the French forestry commission) have organized, for the second year, a contest to designate the tree of the year, l'arbre de l'année.   Actually, two trees are chosen: one by a jury and one by the public.  And both winners in 2013 chosen among 200 candidates and 23 nominees (some quite spectacular) are oaks.

 

The first is the Oak of Saint-Civran, in the Region Centre, is a tree 7 m in diameter, thought to be nearly 1000 years old. It can be seen here on Flickr.

Le chêne de Saint-Civran (Centre). | Louis-Marie Préau/Terre Sauvage 2013

 

The second tree, chosen by the public, is a bonsai oak that grows on a dovecote in Britanny.  This tree is over 100 years old.

Le chêne bonzaï de Bégard (Bretagne). | Louis-Marie Préau/Terre Sauvage 2013

 

See also the website of the French newspaper Le Monde from where these pictures were taken.