#then in the 1960s or 70s the farm was downsized and all the pastures except two were abandoned and left to rewild as they pleased

[hedgehog-moss]

I recently heard about a 400-year-old tree in a nearby village, which made me want to estimate the age of the big lime tree behind my house. I measured the circumference at my height then divided by Pi to get the diametre then multiplied by the growth factor for this species—and I learnt that my lime tree is about 255-260 years-old! It was born in the 1760s... I also went and measured some of my beech trees and the oldest ones are ~190 years-old, which makes sense as it’s the age of the house. I’m not sure why this lime tree is so much older than all the other trees on this land, but it makes me want to give it a little plaque, maybe one that says “I was 25 years-old during the French revolution.”

#crawling along #i know my land used to be a forest until the 1820s when most of the trees were cut to create pastures #beech trees were then planted around each pasture to delineate it #then in the 1960s or 70s the farm was downsized and all the pastures except two were abandoned and left to rewild as they pleased #so the trees around my house are 50-60yo at most save for the beech trees enclosing the younger woods like sentinels #i'm guessing the 1820s owners preserved a couple of the pre-existing trees in each pasture to provide shade for the animals? #and the other(s) have been cut since #whatever the reason i'm glad this one lime tree was left alone to live its life!