On March 11, 2020, Northumberland Master Gardeners were hosted by Ken Prue at The Loft Cinema at 201 Division Street, Cobourg. Ken screened the film Judi Dench: My Passion For Trees, an Upland Media Production.
Judi Dench lives on a 40 acre woodland in Surrey England, which is the most wooded county in England. She has become steward to a number of trees including an old oak tree which is featured in the movie.
“The best time to plant a tree was 50 years ago, the next best time is today” Judi has risen to that adage and plants a tree every time one of her friends passes away. She has the trees named in honour of that person.
The movie follows the woodlot through the seasons, including a sonnet by William Shakepeare, another of Judi Dench’s passions, to begin each season.
By bringing in tree specialists and forest scientists throughout the film, the reader is given a great deal of information about trees including how trees communicate by underground fungal threads.
To learn more about trees, I recommend a book called “The Hidden Life of Trees: What They Feel and How They Communicate” by Peter Wohlleben. Greystone Books, 2015. This book offers an easy to read description of trees, giving us a much better understanding of their importance and purpose.
