The Red Beech can be see at the botanical garden in Pieterburen
A 170-year-old Groningen tree has been voted among the most beautiful trees in the Netherlands. The red beech is located on the north Groningen coast, in a botanical garden called Domies Toen. The volunteer-managed garden is in Pieterburen (which is also the home of a seal sanctuary). As reported by the GIC.
The Beech in Domies Toen is officially the most beautiful tree in the North, but was beaten by two other trees in the south of the country for the overall top spot: one in Etten Leur in Brabant and one in Middelburg in Zeeland, had a few more votes.
The winner was a Moeier tree, a large-leaved lime in the center of Etten-Leur (province of North Brabant), with an overwhelming majority of 3,593 votes.
The two-stemmed wingnut in Middelburg (province of Zeeland) ended on No. 2 with 2,450 votes.
The red beech in Domies Toen in Pieterburen (province of Groningen) ended at No. 3 with 2,083 votes.
The tree has a special history. Red beeches were a status symbol in the 19th Century. The beech was planted around 1850 in the garden of the weem, the rectory farm, for the local priest.
In 1880 the barns were demolished and the old front house was enlarged into a grand rectory. The new physic garden was designed around the red beech, meaning that the tree is older than the garden it sits in.
Image (not the tree in question) via Carmen H via Pixabay
