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Benedict Pollard

@mightyfineoaks

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PLANTING WISDOM
Growing and selling oaklings nurtured from the wild ancient oaks of England.

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What an AMAZING 😮discovery this week at our nursery made by our nursery assistant @george_bugler_arts

Whilst we were measuring our largest oaks and photographing them, he noticed this 'twin-leaf' on the grass, recently fallen.

This is a beautifully-symmetrical heart-shaped bifurcated teratology - an extremely rare variation on normal leaf development.

I have not been able to find another example of this for a native British Oak. Please let us know if you are aware of any.

This is from an eleven-year old Quercus petraea, Sessile Oak, from Brampton Bryan, Herefordshire.

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Maxwell Masters wrote an extensive book on the subject of Vegetable Teratology or Principal Deviations from the Usual Construction of Plants (1869), dedicated to J.D. Hooker, Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and published by the Ray Society. There was no mention of oak bifurcation in it.

https://darwin-online.org.uk/converted/pdf/1869_teratology_CUL-DAR.LIB.418.pdf

Franz Krasan's paper from 1887 remarks on leaf developmental oddities in Quercus petraea (Q. sessiliflora) after a late spring frost, which damaged the growing points. We had just such a late spring forest in 2026 which turned many young oak leaves black.

https://dn790007.ca.archive.org/0/items/biostor-221738/biostor-221738.pdf

Perhaps that was the cause.

Always be aware and observe! There is magic all around.

Well done George !

#ancientoak #heart #oak #beauty #magic #symmetry #love #mightyfineoaks #ancienttrees #oaks #symbol #teratology #discovery #awareness #leaf #leaves by @mightyfineoaks

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9 days ago

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a month ago

Whilst driving back from Broughton Sanctuary last week, after Samurai training pt 3 ... i spotted a large tree on the horizon, in Derbyshire.

Eventually working out how to get close to it, I discovered this beauty of an ash tree.

Heresy, forgive me, in that this may be my first post about a non-oak. But it leads nicely on to an unusual mapping project I am starting of unmapped ancient oaks. More details to follow, once it's ready!

This unmapped tree had no sign of ash die-back and measured 6.14m in girth at c. 1.5m above ground level, although probably more, as the enormous roots got in the way a bit.

#mightyfineash !
#ancientash
#veterantrees by @mightyfineoaks

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3 months ago

At last week’s @visions.for.the.future award ceremony in London, we were delighted to offer the prize of an oak sapling to our winners. These were kindly provided by Benedict Pollard of @mightyfineoaks - a specialist tree nursery raising and selling ‘pedigree’ oaks grown from acorns gathered from many of the oldest, most iconic and characterful oaks of Britain.

Benedict has planted nearly 150 of his oak trees @broughtonsanctuary, bringing people together in celebration of the beauty of life.

If you are interested in planting one of Benedict’s trees drop him a line… and if you don’t have your own space, Broughton will provide the land!

#OakTrees #TreePlanting #PrizeGiving taken in Broughton Sanctuary by @mightyfineoaks

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5 months ago

Well apparently I can be a little delayed in my social media posts! Anyhow ...

So, here, at last, are some snaps from a great day at the official launch of Mighty Fine Oaks.

Almost 200 people braved a cold damp working Friday on January 30th to come along to a muddy field in Oxfordshire to celebrate all things good and oaky!

We were delighted to see such an interesting crowd of people, from many walks of life, and the atmosphere was, as one attendee, put it: "sensational"! There are too many to mention, but thank to you all for coming and celebrating this milestone.

We were delighted to hear Aljos Farjon's debut his talk on 'Rewilding Oak' ahead of his book release in October 2026.

We were 'blessed' 😂 to have myself and Rupert Ponsonby sing a brief duet to herald the opening of the occasion, and later I gave my talk 'The Soul of the Oak' inviting us all to consider oaks as Beings, encouraging folk to plant out our trees grown from ancient oaks, this perpetuating the gene pool and the story and old ways of these lands too.

The day was literally blessed, as it was pouring with rain in the morning, but cleared up exactly as people arrived, the sun actually coming out for the first time in weeks and then it returned to the same grey wet downpours we experienced all winter, as soon as the last guests had left.

It was a delight to also connect up with the attendees of the morning gathering of the North East Cotswolds Farmer Cluster Group at the farm, with whom we are now collaborating.
@necotscluster

Since the launch we have been delighted to send a healthy number of oak trees to new homes, including some very special locations and for very special occasions. We are also now working with several new estates and farms. Spreading the good word.

Special thanks go to:
@amandaponsonby @sophie_maclaren_
@denisebalyoz
@moneyrowbeans - for the amazing coffee served with such panache
@owen.storey22
@george_bugler_arts
@joey.scarborough_

#mightyfineoaks #ancientoaks #veteranoaks #singing #story #oak oaks #quercusrobur #quercuspetraea #rewising #woodpasture #acorn #acorns #spirit #standingpeople #ents #trees #celebration #coffee #sunshine by @mightyfineoaks

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5 months ago

Benedict Pollard returns to bring us close to nature and remind us of the wisdom of trees.

Last tickets available.

#realisation #trees #backtonature by @mightyfineoaks

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6 months ago

What a pleasant surprise to receive an unexpected shout-out from my friend Nick Ashley-Cooper, 12th Earl of Shaftesbury, in today's Financial Times - 'How to Spend It'.

He and I have known each other for many years, and in 2013 advanced our shared love of oaks by creating a Quercetum (oak arboretum) at his ancestral home, St Giles House in Dorset, following on from the first dozen or so trees supplied by @tony_kirkham_trees, in 2011.

We have so far planted c. 120 different species of oak, from all over the world. Some of them complain about the chalk soil, others like the Macedonian Oak, Quercus trojana, and an evergreen Mexican Oak, Q. crassifolia romp away. It brings such delight to see them all grow. And it is great fun tending to them with the 12th Earl!

We have also ceremonially planted three special native descendants of ancient oaks from Blenheim Palace, Cornbury Park and Radley Park.

I will be part of the Realisation Festival at St Giles this summer, with an immersive walk and talk in the Quercetum where you can get to meet some of these special trees.

https://realisationfestival.com/
@realisationfestival

So now you know 'How to Spend It'!

www.mightyfineoaks.com

#howtospendit #ft #financialtimes #gifts🎁 #oak by @mightyfineoaks

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7 months ago

Gosh what a whirlwind it's been since the splendid Mighty Fine Oaks launch on January 30th.

Six weeks has flown by, and lots of great oak adventures have been had.

We'll update on the launch soon, which by all accounts was a great success! Thank you to everyone who came along or helped.

"Sensational" was one report we had back!!

In the meantime I was delighted to recently visit the incredible Bowthorpe Oak near Bourne, Lincolnshire on my way up to @broughtonsanctuary in Yorkshire.

@avelandtrees supplied me with some wonderful trees to take with me, including a 3-year-old sapling that I purchased, grown from this gargantuan oak. This was planted in pride of place in Yorkshire, as part of the Broughton Sanctuary partnership with Mighty Fine Oaks. They are a huge support of our mission, and now have 77 oaklings of provenance, and this recent visit saw us planting 7 oaks, 5 of which were from different parent oaks, each of which are well over 1,000 years old.

Above and beyond that, I was kindly gifted another Bowthorpe oakling by Hugh at Aveland Trees, which I shall treasure!

You can see more about this ancient oak on the Woodland Trust's website here: https://tinyurl.com/bowthorpeoak

I believe it's one of the top 3 largest oaks in Britain, in terms of girth. Alas it recently lost it's claim to be the largest Quercus robur in Britain, after I noticed that despite a long history (over 200 years!) of being known as a Sessile Oak (Quercus petraea), the Marton Oak in Cheshire is in fact also a Pedunculate Oak (Q. robur) with a girth of over 14.6m, albeit with a trunk that is really very fragmented now.

That shouldn't detract from the Bowthorpe's magnificence, and we really look forward to seeing it in full leaf.

By all accounts it produced an excellent acorn crop last autumn too.

Since the launch we have been drumming up all sorts of new 'oaky' projects, to be announced soon. Watch this space as we explore some new flavours of PLANTING WISDOM.

#ancientoaks #quercus #quercusrobur #quercuspetraea #rewising #plantingwisdom #mightyfineoaks #oaks #acorns #bowthorpeoak #bourne #Lincolnshire #oaklings #gargantuantrees #treespirit #history #thousandyears by @mightyfineoaks

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7 months ago

MIGHTY FINE OAKS: THE LAUNCH

Founded in 2015, but not wishing to rush matters and now that the trees are of a good size and vintage, we have waited until Friday January 30th 2026 for the official Launch.

We will be giving tours of the oak nursery, where we grow over 2,500 trees of provenance linked to individual ancient English oaks.

10:30 am - Tours of the Nursery until 4 pm.

01:30 pm - tented talks:

1) The Soul of the Oak - Benedict Pollard

Join us from 1:30pm for a fascinating talk leaning into his lifelong love of oak and vision for his oak nursery via his experience of botany, mycology, conservation, entomology and horticulture. You will be introduced to some of the iconic old oak trees Benedict has met, many over 1,000 years old, and of his pleasure in working with landowners in 33 counties to grow oak trees of ancient provenance for landscapes of the future. His devotion to oaks prospers alongside a broad exploration of spirituality, mythology, storytelling and his fervent belief in the vibrance of a well-loved soil. This talk will be a beautifully illustrated adventure leaving you wanting to meet some of these incredible trees … and to plant their descendants!

2) Rewilding Oak - Aljos Farjon

Aljos is a renowned botanist and author of many books including the seminal Ancient Oaks in the English Landscape (Kew Publishing, 2016/22). Aljos will present for the first time his extensive research on oak regeneration in the wild. Natural regeneration has created oakwoods in the past, but today there are new challenges facing regeneration - planting with wisdom can help. He is particularly supportive of the aims of Mighty Fine Oaks in this context. His new book with the title Rewilding Oak will be published by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in summer 2026.

Mighty Fine Oaks' trees will be available to purchase on the day, or indeed as a Mighty Fine present for Christmas!

RSVP
benedict@mightyfineoaks.com

#launchparty #launch #mightyfineoaks #oaks #oak #tree #trees #rewilding #rewising #quercus #myth #storytelling #horticulture #vision #mission #purpose #christmaspresent #joy #adventuretime by @mightyfineoaks

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Today I hand-delivered my last two Queen Elizabeth I oaklings, from Cowdray Park, to a client in East Kent whose family know the stewards of Majesty, said by some to be the finest Maiden oak in the realm.

We were granted permission and gladly paid a visit.

What a Mighty Fine Oak!

Suffice to say I have never seen so many acorns with Knopper galls! Thousands, and nary a healthy acorn to be found, although we managed to find a few.

A truly extraordinary tree. So happy to at last be able to see it and imbibe its aura!

Quercus robur.

MAJESTY (12.5m girth, probably around 1,000 years old).

#trees #ancienttrees #majesty #acorns #acorns #mightyfineoaks #rewising #oak #oaks #ancientoaks #magictrees #sacredtrees #sanctuary #majestyoak #bigtree #quercus #maiden by @mightyfineoaks

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