Planted 1949

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Trunk circumference at coring height: 230 cm.

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Tree rings are confirmed back to the early 50s as sometimes the corer couldn't reach the tree's centre. One of the interesting aspects of this art project is that trees still protect the secrets of their early lives.

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The focus of the human narrative is weather prediction.

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Corsican Pine prefer freely draining sandy soil. Fineshade Wood has clay soil. They require a warm summer climate, tolerating heat, drought and high winds but are prone to frost damage.

 

This specific Corsican Pine is healthy. Its heartwood starts in 1955 (much later than many conifer's heartwoods) and has tended to have several (rather than specific) years of strong or weak growth. It has not grown strongly since 1996 and was particularly badly affected between 2010-15, although it seems to be growing better since then. This might be due to nearby tree felling to give it more nutrients and light. It had a similar period of restricted growth between 1982-89. 

 

The tree grew really strongly throughout most of the 1960s including the very cold winter of 1962/3, which is interesting given that it is susceptible to frost damage.