Conservation of the famous Chiswick House and Gardens Cedars of Lebanon

31 Cedars of Lebanon from five different clones of Chiswick House and Gardens’ trees, have been successfully grafted as part of English Heritage Project.

Cedars of Lebanon are one of the memorable sights of Chiswick House Gardens. The original cedars came from Sutton Court, the adjacent property that Richard Boyle, 3rd Earl of Burlington, purchased in 1726. By that time they were already 30 years old. The Earl had the side branches stripped up and transplanted to the front of Chiswick House.

Many of Chiswick’s cedars came from Lebanon where now few trees remain of the original cedar forests. There is now very limited genetic material of wild Cedar of Lebanon trees. However in European gardens, particularly in Britain, seed has been imported for well over 250 years, resulting in a greater genetic diversity of Cedars of Lebanon in the UK than in the Lebanon.

31 Cedars of Lebanon from five different clones of Chiswick House and Gardens’ trees, have been successfully grafted as part of English Heritage Project. Some of these trees date back to Lord Burlington and William Kent’s landscaping on the estate 300 years ago. The project was set up almost a decade ago to propagate significant cedar trees in gardens with which they were associated.

Chiswick House and Gardens Trust now have care of the trees and they are being offered to other interested parks and gardens as well being planted within their own grounds. Garden Associations, The London Borough of Hounslow and The London Borough of Ealing will be receiving the trees this month for other historic sites including Hyde Park Gardens Square, St James’s Square, Boston Manor and Walpole Park and Painshill an important 18th century restored landscape garden in Cobham.

Mark Ebdon, Painshill Estate Manager is delighted that some of the Chiswick Cedars will be introduced to the landscape garden; ‘This is a great project as these are wonderful trees which will add to the authenticity of the 18th century landscape garden. Charles Hamilton introduced many trees from overseas to Painshill including Cedar of Lebanon therefore were delighted to accept the kind offer from Chiswick House and Gardens Trust.’

© Clive Boursnell