The Monkey Puzzle Tree Nut: August 2025

Gravetye Manor

Me and Nat were fortunate enough recently, to be gifted the opportunity of experiencing dining at the Michelin starred Gravetye Manor in Sussex. It has to be said the food and service we received was of the highest standard imaginable. One of the highlights being the complimentary seasonal intermediate dishes, which specifically showcased the produce growing in their kitchen garden.

And it's the gardens at Gravetye that warrant a special mention. Nat was super excited to finally get to see them as they were originally planted by William Robinson, the father of the English wildflower garden. And even for a one-tree person like myself, I have to say the gardens are pretty spectacular.

Having said that we had been 'warned' that there were no monkey puzzle trees in the gardens, so I wasn't expecting to add to our spotted count. And indeed there were no monkey puzzles in the actual gardens, however, as we drove away after a really enjoyable visit we, were delighted to spot, in the manor's grounds, a semi-mature monkey puzzle tree in all its glory!

Gravetye Manor - Sussex

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 970

More Bournemouth & Surrounding Areas

So another few trips to the Bournemouth area resulted in the spotting of another 19 trees. In fact me and Nathalie saw more trees but due to being in traffic etc. we weren't able to photograph them, so they will need to wait to be recorded.

Boundary Lane 1 - St Leonards

Boundary Lane 2 - St Leonards

Byron Road - Bournemouth

Christchurch Road - Bournemouth

Crescent Road - Bournemouth

Grosvenor Road 1 - Bournemouth

Lonsdale Road - Bournemouth

Mansfield Road - Ringwood

Matcham Drive - St Leonards

Ovington Avenue - Bournemouth

Princes Road - Westbourne

Queen's Park Avenue - Bournemouth

Richmond Park Road 1 - Bournemouth

Richmond Park Road 2 - Bournemouth

Ringwood Road - Sopley

Wellington Road (2 Trees)- Bournemouth

Wilfred Road - Bournemouth

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 969

And There's More!

Driving around Bournemouth, Poole and the surrounding areas, what really hits you is the number of mature trees there are. I can't think of any other town or city in the UK that has so many. The fact there are so many, is a real testament to forward thinking of the people responsible for the development of the whole area.

For a monkey puzzle tree fan this means there is always a chance of seeing a huge specimen wherever you go. I would even go as far as saying it could easily be considered the epicentre of Monkey Puzzle trees in the UK!

So following Wimborne Road Cemetery our visit managed to include spotting another 12 trees, and as future visits would go on to show this was only just the beginning of a very favourable spotting spree...

Ashley Cross Green 1 - Poole

Ashley Cross Green 2 - Poole

Ashley Cross Green 3 - Poole

Clarendon Road - Christchurch

Glen Road - Boscombe

Guest Avenue - Poole

Jewell Road - Bournemouth

Lindsay Road 1 - Poole

Lindsay Road 2 - Poole

Penn Hill Avenue - Poole

Surrey Road 1 - Bournemouth

Surrey Road 2 - Bournemouth

Monkey Puzzle Trees Seen - 950

Bournemouth Delivers

A weekend away in Bournemouth to check out the possibility of moving there, turned out to be an incredibly successful bit of spotting monkey puzzle trees! The highlight being Wimborne Road Cemetery.

The cemetery was laid out by Christopher Crabb Creeke, however the reason for the trees being there is because of Joseph Cutler. The story goes that when he found that 50 laurel trees had been planted, contrary to what had been planned, he had them ripped up and replaced with monkey puzzles (link).

I only had a short time to count the trees, so my figure of 33 trees might not be right, if it isn't I'll update the count later.