Tree Champions: Heavyweight champion

From 6 - 8 June, Westonbirt's learning and participation team will be hosting the Tree Champions family event. The event will include a trail around some of our own Olympic champions - our trees and shrubs - as well as some great Olympic-themed craft activities with a woody twist! Here, the team reveal some of the Tree Champion facts you can discover at Westonbirt…

Wellingtonia

The world’s largest living tree is General Sherman, the giant redwood, growing in the Sequoia National Park, California.

It has held this record since 1980. This 2,100 year old tree is 82.6m tall with a girth of nearly 26m.

Its weight, including the root system, is estimated to be 1,814 tonnes, the equivalent of 121 double decker buses or 10 blue whales.

The tree is estimated to contain enough wood to make over 5,000,000,000 (5 billion) matches.

Useful links

Become a member of the Friends of Westonbirt Arboretum

More about Westonbirt’s family events