Trees and Other Flora in Crawfordsburn Country Park
There are many very interesting trees, shrubs and other flora in the Country Park. Some of the trees were planted 100-150 years ago, and are now very tall. Others have been put in since the Park was opened in 1971, while others again have become established without intentional planting.
This is a guide to just some of the magnificent trees that you can see and enjoy in the area of the Country Park close to the main car parks, and along the entrance road from Bridge Road South.
The tallest trees were planted when the Sharman Crawford family owned the estate. In the 19th century, landlords grew exotic conifers from seed brought to the United Kingdom from distant parts of the world. Underneath the trees, in the ‘understorey’, they planted rhododendrons and cherries to provide colour in the springtime.
Up the glen, towards the waterfall and Crawfordsburn village, most of the trees are beech, many over a hundred years old. There is, however, on the south side of the burn, one magnificent tall Coast redwood with its characteristic bark, beside a path across which are also two specimen conifers.
In much of the glen, the Sharman Crawfords planted laurel and pheasantberry (leycesteria, imported from China) to provide cover and some food for gamebirds. It will be noted that due to their strong overhead canopy, the flora under the beech trees is very limited.
The largest trees in the Country Park are conifers, particularly examples of the Monterey Cypress (macrocarpa), and various species of pine, mostly Scots and Corsican. (The cones of the Monterey Cypress are unusual, looking like large buttons.) Several such conifers can be seen at the rear of the lawn, scene of a grand two-day fete held in 1922 to raise funds for the extension of St John’s Church in Helen’s Bay. Two fine cedars of a different variety are close to the entrance to the Scout facility. Just up the track to the viaduct, there are several Douglas firs which also have distinctive attractive cones with what look like little tails.
Another area of arboreal interest is the Geo-park; this was originally a pond garden for Colonel RG Sharman Crawford’s wife, as can be seen from the large stand of gunnera. More recent planting has added three ginkgo biloba (or maidenhair tree, behind the Pre-Cambrian panel) and three dawn redwoods. On both sides of this garden are a row of evergreen holm oaks (quercus ilex) again planted in the Sharman Crawford era. Since the Country Park was opened in 1971, the woodland has been actively managed; inevitably some of the elderly trees planted in the 19th century have had to be cut down for safety reasons. But there is both natural and managed intervention; it is encouraging for example that some young elm trees are regenerating, years after the ravages of Dutch Elm disease.