From my Lake District land, I watch failed plantings - fallen tubes, dead saplings, good intentions undone. Planting is easy but establishment is everything. Survival depends on soil, water, weather, protection, and care over the years. Fewer trees, well-established, matter more than many planted and lost.

A reflective journey through oak ecology, mythology, medicine and climate change in the Lake District — revealing why oaks thrive in company and why they matter now more than ever.