Polish plant “Tree of the Year”. It was appreciated in a unique competition
The winner of the European Tree of the Year 2024 competition was a plant located in Poland. See what it looks like.
Poland is appreciated in the international arena in many respects. Foreign tourists value holidays on the Baltic Sea, and city break enthusiasts eagerly go on trips, e.g. to picturesque Krakow. But these are not the only aspects that make it worth visiting our country. Now one of the plants found here has been hailed as the “Tree of the Year”.
“Tree of the Year” is located in Poland
The Polish “Heart of the Garden” was named “Tree of the Year” in the European Tree of the Year 2024 competition. A monumental common beech grows in the old park of the Botanical Garden of the University of Wrocław, in Wojsławice in Niemcza in Lower Silesia. It was probably planted at the turn of the 18th and 19th centuries. This is the third Polish tree in a row to win.
The final of the European Tree of the Year 2024 took place on Wednesday at the European Parliament in Brussels. The winner competed against 14 other plants from various places in Europe. “Heart of the Garden” received 39,158 votes in the online competition.
“We are very grateful to you for every vote you cast, for the commitment and enthusiasm with which you supported us on the way to victory. We are happy with such a wonderful initiative as a competition, the main goal of which is not to win, but to educate nature and raise awareness of how important trees, especially old ones, are to us humans. Without nature we couldn't exist. From April 14, we invite you to the Wojsławice Arboretum, where you will be able to see the Heart of the Garden,” wrote representatives of the Botanical Garden of the University of Wrocław on social media.
The competition celebrates our relationship with nature by presenting beautiful and unique trees from all over the continent. Who won the Polish beech?
European Tree of the Year 2024
Second place went to the weeping beech from Bayeux in Normandy. Stretching over 40m wide, it received structural support from the city to keep it standing.
In third place is the 1,000-year-old Luras olive tree in Sardinia, Italy. It is estimated to be between 3,000 and 4,000 years old and is one of the oldest specimens of wild olive on the island.
