The bald cypress of Ename

Laureate Tree of the Year 2022

The tree is 35 meters high, has a circumference of 470 cm and is 270 years old.

In the courtyard of the House Beaucarne in Ename, a path leads along an imposing bald cypress that has been decorating the garden since the 18th century. It is characterized by its impressive breathing roots and, since the 1960s, by the Wisteria that now climbs the entire tree. The tree was planted in the former Riedekensbeek from the 15th century, which at the time supplied the gardens of the abbey of Ename with water, in the time before the House of Beaucarne.
The House was the residence of the prominent bourgeois Beaucarne family who settled there in the 18th century. In the centuries that followed, the Beaucarne family became passionate about, among other things, collecting plants. In the garden that belongs to the house, you can also find some plants that the family brought with them from long journeys. The 'Beaucarnea Recurvata', a plant from Mexico, was itself named after the family. In 2020, the non-profit organisation Huis Beaucarne received the prestigious Hans Vredeman de Vries Prize for historical gardens (King Baudouin Foundation).

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