£1m gales damage to botanic garden

The 100mph winds that lashed the Royal Botanic Garden earlier this month caused the most extensive damage to the attraction for the past 30 years.

Thirty-five trees, up to 125 years old, were uprooted or destroyed and another 40 were damaged. More than 400 panels of glass were shattered at the glasshouses.

Garden supervisor Peter Brownless said: “In the region of 100 to 200 shrubs, mostly rhododendrons, were squashed. The shrubs will be fairly quickly replaced but it could be five to 10 years before they look pretty much how they have looked in the past.”

He added that one of the oldest trees that came down was an oak, which was more than a century old. One of the most important trees lost was called Betula Utilis Subspecies Utilis, which was collected from China where it is thought to no longer live.

Mr Brownless hopes all the trees will be replaced before the end of the year. However, he warned it could be 50 years before the garden looks like it did a few months ago.

A public appeal has been launched for donations to help with the cost of restoration.