Recent news articles and up and coming events
Members Annual Lunch Tuesday 26th November 2025
Dear KFOTT Member, I am delighted to announce the arrangements for this year’s Annual Lunch. I hope you can join us at the new venue we have selected: The Wishful Thinker. The Venue require a £20 pp deposit which is non-refundable in order to secure the booking, so please book and pay the deposit as…
Wakehurst Place, 4th November 2025
KFOTT Daytrip to Wakehurst Place, Haywards Heath, RH17 6TN Tuesday 4th November Dear KFOTT Member, I am delighted to announce the last of our day trips for 2025, This is an excellent opportunity to visit or re-visit Wakehurst Place in the company of Owen Johnson, to admire its splendid trees and to explore the millennium…
Mote Park visit – 23 September 2025
This visit to Mote Park was a revelation; for some of us it was a first-time visit, whilst others had passed through at various times in past years …but every single member of the group came away with a completely altered view of what was there… We were guided around by Alan Frith, the Park…
Riverhill Himalayan Gardens – 16 July
The weather was showing the friendly face on an English summer as a group of 20 members was introduced to Misako, the Head Gardener in front of the main house at Riverhill. Misako laid out the history of the estate, first established by John Rogers in 1840 and whose family continues to own it through…
Kent Friends of the Trees – on social media!
A message from our Chairman: I am happy to report that we now have a Facebook page operating for the charity. This is a public page, so anybody – member or otherwise – can follow the page and post content or comment on other content. If you are a Facebook user, please find our page…
Great Comp Garden – 20 May 2025
Our visit to Great Comp Garden was blessed with perfect weather, and our group of 14 attendees was guided around the 7-acre garden by Christina, the senior gardener, who works with a team of 2 part-time gardeners together with a larger team of volunteers. The garden dates from the late 1950’s and was developed from…
Book review by Martin Whybrow
Suzanne Simard: Finding the Mother Tree Peter Wohlleben: The Hidden Life of Trees Byline: These two books, by pioneers on either side of the Atlantic, will forever change the way you look at woods and forests. They explain our growing understanding of the deep, complex and fascinating connectivity between trees. Suzanne Simard and Peter…
How to Read A Tree
It may be that you have heard the – memorable – name Tristan Gooley, author of this and other books; you may have already explored his world of books, focussing on reading the landscape, weather, sun, moon, trees, plants and animals in order to navigate safely using the “outdoor clues and signs”. This book “How…
AGM Speaker Chris Lane – Cherry Time of Year
Chris Lane – Cherry Time of Year Our AGM guest speaker , Chris Lane, had a busy day on Saturday 12 April! As a Trustee of Brogdale Trust, he was supporting the annual Hanami festival at Brogdale in the morning and joined us for our AGM in the afternoon. Chris chose the subject of…
Programme of Events 2025
Saturday 12th April 2025 Annual General Meeting 2.30pm VENUE: Lenham Community Centre, 2 Groom Way, Lenham, Maidstone ME17 2QT Speaker: Chris Lane, Proprietor and Manager Witchhazel Nursery “An engaging insight on the Subject of Wisteria” 2025 DAY VISITS – travel by car, (please car-share if possible, as some have restricted parking) Tues…