Dame Judi Dench and the Woodland Trust have announced their nominees for the Tree of the Year 2025 competition, with the theme of 'Rooted in Culture'.
This year's theme seeks to highlight how trees inspire us, as well as providing a place for quiet contemplation. You can vote on the Woodland Trust's website until voting closes on 19 September. The winning tree will be announced on 26 September, before it represents the UK in the European Tree of the Year finals.
Dame Judi Dench, actor, author and Woodland Trust patron, says “Our oldest trees hold more stories than Shakespeare; some were putting down roots long before he began writing, more than 400 years ago.
“They are as much part of our heritage as any literature, and I'm delighted to announce the shortlist of the 2025 Tree of the Year competition, featuring trees that foster creativity and inspire. I hope you will join me in voting.”
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Tree of the Year 2025 nominees
The Borrowdale Yews, Seathwaite, Cumbria
Species: yew | Approximate age: 2,000 years | Girth: 4.33m
These might just be the most famous yews in England, after being immortalised in William Wordsworth's 1803 poem Yew Trees:
'... But worthier still of note
Are those fraternal Four of Borrowdale,
Joined in one solemn and capacious grove;
Huge trunks! -and each particular trunk a growth
Of intertwisted fibres serpentine
Up-coiling, and inveteratley convolved...'
One of the four yews was destroyed in the Great Storm of 1884, though its remains still rest among the other three – and have inspired countless creatives since.
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King of Limbs, Savernake Forest, Wiltshire
Species: sessile oak | Approximate age: 1,000 years | Girth: 10.25m
The sprawling branches of this tree were cut back to encourage regrowth (known as pollarding) until the 19th century, resulting in its unique shape today.
Radiohead's 2011 album King of Limbs was named after the tree, which is near Tottenham House: a country house where the band recorded part of their previous album In Rainbows.
Wilfred Owen Sycamore, Edinburgh
Species: sycamore | Approximate age: 100+ | Girth: unknown
Hundreds of university students walk past this tree on the Edinburgh Napier University campus every day – perhaps without knowing its history. The site was once a military psychiatric hospital, known as Craiglockhart War Hospital.
In 1917, a young poet called Wilfred Owen was treated at the hospital for what was then called 'shell shock'. He would later become one of the most famous poets of the First World War. Owen met a more established poet at Craiglockhart, Siegfried Sassoon, who became his literary mentor. Who knows whether the pair sat beneath this very tree?
Vote for the Wilfred Owen Sycamore
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Tree of Peace and Unity, Dunadry Hotel, Antrim
Species: lime | Approximate age: 100 years | Girth: 5.00m
This lime tree actually began as two different trees which gradually met to become a single trunk. It became famous after Tony Blair, David Trimble and John Hume met there to broker peace in 1998 for the Good Friday Agreement. A photo was taken of them by the tree, further strengthening it as a symbol of peace and reconciliation.
Vote for the Tree of Peace and Unity
Lollipop Tree, Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire
Species: beech | Approximate age: unknown | Girth: unknown
It will come as no surprise that this beech tree gets its name for its unusual looks. But its striking shape has ensured its popularity with photographers and filmmakers for years, especially as there are few trees on the surrounding land.
The beech provides a particularly moving backdrop for the final scenes of Sam Mendes' First World War film 1917 – which is rather fitting, as much of Salisbury Plain is owned by the Ministry of Defence and used for training exercises. (So do pay attention to signs and flags if you're walking around.)
The Beatles’ cedar tree, Chiswick House and Gardens
Species: cedar of Lebanon | Approximate age: 300 | Girth: unknown
Dating from the 1720s, this cedar can count Queen Victoria, the Tsar of Russia and the Shah of Persia among its admirers. But it's perhaps best-known for featuring in a Beatles music video.
The Fab Four recorded two films here (Paperback Writer and Rain) which would be predecessors to the modern music video – changing the course of music history forever. The tree was also used on the cover of their Nowhere Man EP.
Vote for The Beatles' cedar tree
Knole Park oak, Knole Park, Kent
Species: sessile oak | Approximate age: 150+ | Girth: 6.15m
This oak is recorded as the tallest sessile oak in Britain, standing at 135 feet high. Due to its location and unusually slender appearance, it's widely thought to be the oak that features in Virginia Woolf's 1928 novel Orlando, where it's described as:
'...so high indeed that nineteen English counties could be seen beneath; and on clear days thirty or perhaps forty.’
This tree inspires the character of Orlando to write the poem The Oak Tree, which appears throughout the book.
Bradgate Park’s oldest oak, Leicester
Species: English oak | Approximate age: 825 years | Girth: 8.57m
Bradgate Park is full of ancient oaks, but this is its oldest living resident. It's so old, in fact, that it would already have been an impressive sight at the time of Lady Jane Grey's birth in 1537, at the nearby Tudor mansion Bradgate House.
Lady Jane Grey unfortunately holds the record as Britain's shortest-serving monarch. After just nine days on the throne, she was overthrown by Mary I and beheaded, aged 17. Legend has it that Bradgate Park’s oaks had their upper branches removed in an act of mourning. The Woodland Trust has confirmed that they definitely have been cut back in the past – so could the legend be true?
Vote for Bradgate Park's oldest oak
Lonely Tree, Llyn Padarn, Llanberis
Species: birch | Approximate age: 30+ years | Girth: unknown
This birch is perched on the glassy waters of Llyn Padarn against a backdrop of Eryri's mountains, with the tree's exposed position contributing to its unique shape. The scene is ever-changing as the lake's water levels constantly rise and fall – and in ideal conditions, the reflection is picture-perfect.
In 2024, part of the area was closed so Netflix could film scenes for the fourth series of The Witcher. Although we don't know whether it will make the cut yet, it's no wonder this awe-inspiring location was chosen for the fantasy TV show.
Argyle Street ash, Glasgow
Species: ash | Approximate age: 170 years | Girth: 2.33m
Known locally as The Lone Tree of Finnieston or The Only Tree on Argyle Street, the Woodland Trust chose this ash from public nominations. It's intertwined with the history of Glasgow, having survived the Clydeside Blitz, the rise and fall of Victorian industry, and is now defying the odds to resist ash dieback.
It was the first tree in Glasgow to be protected by a tree preservation order, in recognition of its cultural and ecological value to the city.
Vote for the Argyle Street ash
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Top image: the King of Limbs tree in Savernake Forest. Credit: Lee Cooper
