ragnhildur

The Tree of the Year 2007 is a Siberian pine at Mörkin in Hallormsstaður. The tree grew up from seed sown there in 1906. A total of 25 kg of seeds were sown, with limited results, most likely thanks to mice eating most of the seeds. Some trees made it, however, and have been growing slowly but steadily since. It wasn’t until 1995 that the Siberian pine trees in Mörkin were counted exactly, resulting in a number of 87 trees. Those trees have now begun spreading seeds, so a second generation of pines is on the way. The seeds probably originated around the city of Omsk in western Siberia. At the nomination ceremony in 2007 the tree was measured and turned out to be 13,2 m in height, with a trunk 50 cm in diameter.

Location on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/kz9K3VkGt4D7TDfx7

An article (in Icelandic) from Skógræktarritið – The Journal of the Icelandic Forestry Association about the tree (here).

A grey poplar at Austurgata 12 was nominated as Tree of the Year inn 2006. The species is rare in Iceland – four others are known in Hafnarfjörður, 4-6 in Reykjavík and one in Akureyri. The tree at Austurgata has a fairly interesting position, as it leans in part on and grows around a concrete fence on the edge of the garden, after almost falling over in a massive storm in 1972. Little information has been found on the age or origin of the tree, but a tree ring age analysis of a core sample indicates the tree was planted prior to 1940, most likely in the early 1930’s. The tree most likely came from the tree nursery run by Einar Helgason, who imported a number of grey poplars in 1932. The tree was measured at the nomination ceremony and was 11,1 m in height, with a large crown around 10 m in diameter. The tree splits into two roughly equal trunks at around chest height (1,3 m).

Location on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/r8EFbwhSMdRPmX8E7

An article (in Icelandic) from Skógræktarritið – The Journal of the Icelandic Forestry Association about the tree (here).

The Tree of the Year 2005 is a Russian larch in Kópavogsdalur, to the east of the Digraneskirkja church. It sits on land leased in 1939 by Kristjana Fenger, which was an almost two-hectare size plot from the farm Digranes, with the contract stipulating cultivation of the plot (“garden or grass field cultivation”). The Fenger family had already built a summer house on the site in 1934, but the signing of the contract had taken longer than expected. The cultivation clause was taken seriously, with trees planted and a vegetable patch. According to the Fenger family the larch tree was planted prior to 1939, when John Fenger, Kristjana’s husband, passed away. The tree was almost submerged in soil in 1992 due to a nearby road construction but was saved. The tree has a large crown, with many branches, that indicate the tree suffered some stress in its early years. Most likely is frost damage, but conditions in the southwest of Iceland generally don’t suit Russian larch particularly well. The tree was measured in 2005 and had a height of 8,6 m, with a circumference of 105 cm at chest height.

Location on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/DmrFKs25X6D9aL5z8

An article (in Icelandic) from Skógræktarritið – The Journal of the Icelandic Forestry Association about the tree (here).

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

The Tree of the Year 2004 is a European larch at Hafnargata 48 in Seyðisfjörður. The tree is one of the oldest larch trees in Iceland, although its exact age is unknown. The tree has quite a unique shape, with the widest trunk of any larch in Iceland and a really long branch extending out. The trunk splits in two at around 1 m height, with twists in both trunks and one of them splitting again into two. As a consequence, the tree has a crown that is wider than the tree height. The tree was estimated to be about 90 years old in 2004, based on a core sample. As for where it came from two theories have been proposed. One is that the owner of the house at the time got plants from either Norway or Denmark or that it came from Hallormsstaður, from a larch seeding in 1903.

Location on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/ur2cQGB7nYxhYyff7

An article (in Icelandic) from Skógræktarritið – The Journal of the Icelandic Forestry Association about the tree (here).

A sycamore in at Brattahlíð 4 in Hveragerði was nominated as Tree of the Year 2003. The tree has grown up with plenty of room for spreading out, so has a big crown (measured at around 14 m in diameter). Its height in 2003 was 7,56 m, with a trunk diameter of 35 cm. The tree was planted by the owners of the house at Brattahlíð 4, the couple Ólafur Steinsson and Unnur Þórðardóttir, but Ólafur was one of the founders of the Hveragerði Forestry Association in 1950. They have planted a number of tree species in their garden, including maples, cottonwoods, spruces and an ash, in addition to several shrub species, some of them rare in Iceland like a wayfaring tree. All the trees have been given plenty of room to grow, with the Tree of the Year having a particularly large crown. The tree was planted sometime between 1953-1955. When the couple got the tree, they were told it was a Norway maple, but a closer examination of it at the nomination ceremony led to the conclusion it was a sycamore. This is supported by information on the import of seeds to Iceland, as there is no mention of Norway maple being imported at that time.

Location on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/jDAo7BkALxJPDpK66

An article (in Icelandic) from Skógræktarritið – The Journal of the Icelandic Forestry Association about the tree (here).

The Tree of the Year 2002 is actually two trees – two sitka spruces standing by the farmhouse of Stóra-Giljá in A-Húnavatnssýsla. The farm lies right next to main road #1 and the trees are easily spotted from the road. The trees stand right next to the house, sheltered by a hedge of feltleaf willow and several smaller spruces. The tree closer to the road is taller, measuring at 9,7 m height in 2001, with a trunk circumference of 89 cm, while the other tree measured at 9,1 m, with a circumference of 99 cm. The trees stand about 3 m from the house, with about 3 m between them. Both have split tops (two), most likely caused by gusts of cold northerly winds blowing along the top of the roof of the house. The trees were planted, along with four others, in 1964 and well looked after. Two trees not sheltered from the north winds by the house only lasted a few years, however. The remaining trees grew well but eventually it became apparent that they had been planted too close together, so in the 1970’s two of them were felled, which gave the two remaining trees a boost in growth.

Location on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/9dWk3PmqYLV3GXXm8

An article (in Icelandic) from Skógræktarritið – the Journal of the Icelandic Forestry Association about the tree (here).

The Tree of the Year 2001 was not nominated for its great size or stature, but rather for its role in the history of cultivation and forestry in Iceland. The tree is a tea-leaved willow in the garden of the farm Tröllatunga in Strandasýsla. Tea-leaved willow grows all over Iceland and is quite varied – in some places its procumbent, in other places it can reach 6 m height. The most commonly grown cultivar of the Icelandic tea-leaved willow is called ‘strandavíðir’ after the area Strandir or Strandasýsla. The willow at Tröllatunga is quite large and unusual, as the area has hardly any forests. Two willows were planted there in the early part of the 20^th century, from saplings gathered in the valley of Selárdalur. Offshots from that willow were later planted at the farm Miðhús and from there saplings were taken for cultivation at a tree nursery in Mosfellsbær and sold there. In 1982 foresters from the Iceland Forest Service went to Tröllatunga to get saplings for further cultivation, initially at one of their nurseries but later at several others – this has sometimes been referred to as ‘Tröllatunguvíðir’. In other words, the majority of tea-leaved willow cultivated in Iceland hails from the two willows initially taken as tiny saplings in Selárdalur.

Location on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/9mUPr51xY3x1V2dEA

An article (in Icelandic) from Skógræktarritið – The Journal of the Icelandic Forestry Association about the tree (here).

The Tree of the Year 2000 is a sycamore standing the garden of the house Sólheimar in Bíldudalur. In 2000 the tree was measured at 9,6 m height, with a circumference at 1 m height of 197 cm.  Above 1 m the tree trunk splits into a main trunk and a large side branch. In the year 2000 the tree also developed seeds for the first time, that a closer examination showed to be fully formed, so seeds were gathered from the tree and given to a local gardener for cultivation. The tree is beautifully shaped, especially considering that the Westfjords, where Bíldudalur is located, are not known as the best growing sites in Iceland. Bíldudalur, however, is more sheltered than many of the other fjords in the area, with temperatures in the town reaching 20°C in summer. The tree is also located south of the house and thus sheltered from cold northerly winds. Sycamores are not common in Iceland, with most of them found in older areas of Reykjavík, planted around the 1930’s. The sycamore at Sólheimar was planted in 1930, along with rowan and laburnum trees, now gone. Most likely the plants came via ship from Reykjavík. How well the sycamore in Bíldudalur is growing is a positive indication for greater use of sycamore in forestry in Iceland.

Location of the tree on Google Maps: https://goo.gl/maps/ACPh8g6R73iPmPtv6

An article (in Icelandic) from Skógræktarritið – The Journal of the Icelandic Forestry Association about the tree (here).