National Trust plant 600 trees in Norfolk's Sheringham Park

A team at the National Trust’s Sheringham Park have planted more than 600 trees as part of a huge conservation program.

Climate change warnings have prompted the need to diversify the park’s Wild Garden to "secure its future" in the face of hotter and drier summers.

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The work includes the migration of the most important rhododendron species to more temperate locations and the removal of more invasive plant species, such as ponitcum.

Temple Hill in summer at Sheringham Park, Norfolk (Image: National Trust Images, Rob Coleman)

It follows warnings to gardeners to "protect British nature" after they were urged not to buy the ponitcum species which can spread tree diseases and harm native wildlife.

Champion Scots pine in the Wild Garden at Sheringham Park, Norfolk (Image: National Trust/Rob Coleman)

Over the coming decades, it’s hoped that the newly planted trees will create a tree canopy that will shade the most important rhododendron species at Sheringham Park.

Rangers planting new native and specimen trees at Sheringham Park, Norfolk (Image: National Trust/Rob Coleman)

In the Wild Garden, 180 new specimen trees have been planted, including red maple, Colorado Blue Spruce, Japanese cedar and Tibetan cherry.

Rhododendrons blooming in the Wild Garden at Sheringham Park, Norfolk (Image: National Trust, Justin Minns)

The team has also created a new lilac bank that will add further interest for visitors in the spring, with 15 different varieties of vibrant and fragrant lilac shrubs.

Rhododendrons in June in the Wild Garden at Sheringham Park, Norfolk (Image: National Trust Images/David Levenson)

With its plentiful supply of nectar, it’s hoped this new bank of planting will support a thriving population of butterflies.

White Admiral on Bramble at Sheringham Park, Norfolk (Image: National Trust/Rob Coleman)

The park will also continue to preserve its collection of some of the best surviving work from the famous landscape gardener, Humphry Repton.

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National Trust countryside manager, Richard Daplyn, said: "It’s important that we’re planning for the future and adapting to the changing climate.”

“The new lilac bank and tree plantings not only add another dimension for our visitors, but they will benefit the wildlife of the estate.

"Year-on-year, the landscape will evolve to put on a fantastic display of different foliage, seasonal colour and flowering times."