Tree of the Year: Victoria’s favourite tree has been named

Victoria’s favourite tree has been named!

Head of advocacy at the National Trust of Australia (Victoria), Felicity Watson, says there was “a very clear winner” in the 2021 Tree of the Year competition.

“Tree of the year is a beautiful English oak in the Castlemaine Botanic Gardens,” she said.

The tree was planted in 1863 to celebrate the marriage of the Prince & Princess of Wales, and tree now stands at 22 metres tall, with a canopy of over 35 metres.

The English oak received 625 votes out of a total of over 1500.

“The runner up this year was a wonderful Moreton bay fig … which we think is among the oldest cultivated trees in Victoria,” Ms Watson said.

Also among this years finalists was a fig tree at Old Melbourne Gaol at RMIT in Melbourne’s CBD.

Press PLAY below to hear the acceptance speech Scorcher wrote on behalf of the tree