There is a trope in Ireland that native Irish trees cannot grow on Irish soil unless the soil is ‘right.’ Strangely, Irish soil seems always right for non-native Sitka spruce, a tree from North America, which is the most common tree planted in Ireland. I was told recently that a piece of land I came across was too stony for Irish trees. To that, I’d like to rebut with this photo of a yew, one of our 21 native trees, growing out of a rock. How little we think of nature, and how little we think of our native species, if we don’t believe they have the resilience to grow on our own land…
The ‘Right’ Soil?
