Japan Comes to Coy Pond

The Sakura Cherry Tree Project is the gift from Japan to UK of 10,000 cherry trees as a gesture of friendship between the two countries. It began in 2019 in Hyde Park, the planting ceremony attended by HRH Duke of Gloucester and the Japanese Ambassador. Since then there have been plantings in the whole of the UK.

The Friends of Coy Pond felt this would be an attractive and worthwhile addition to the gardens along Bourne valley. The Friends had already planted a number of trees there; with the cooperation of Robert Stanley, head gardener. This has included rare black poplar trees.

The Friends were successful in their application, and  were awarded four cherry trees. Young saplings arrived in February from a well-known tree UK nursery, securely packaged. The very next day they were successfully planted in a suitable spot, in the meadow by the Bourne stream, near to the pond itself. They seemed no more than sticks when they arrived. But, by mid-March, the fleeting phenomenon of the white blossom suddenly appeared. Their transient beauty is of great significance in Japan, and hanami festivals are held to enjoy the Sakura blossom.

The Friends are making arrangements for a more formal welcome for our four cherry trees. And a Planting Ceremony attended by local good and great. But, surprised by the joy of  unexpected bloom, here is the ‘breaking news’ of the breaking buds. So go if you can and drink in the transient beauty of the bloom.