The United Kingdom hopes to emulate Japan with cherry blossom tourism plans.
Tourists have long travelled to Japan to see its famous cherry blossom in spring.
But the UK could soon have its own industry as the increasing number of the trees in the country draw large crowds each year when in bloom.
The spring bank holiday is expected to see large numbers of visitors from home and abroad heading to cherry blossom spots, with recent weather conditions creating a bumper year for the trees.
Battersea park in London draws many people to take pictures under the blooming row of cherry blossom trees.
The National Trust has vowed to plant 4 million blossoming trees across England, Wales and Northern Ireland by 2030 as part of its wider tree-planting mission, as well as its Blossom Watch campaign, which encourages people to embrace the fleeting beauty of the trees each year.
The UK National Trust has taken inspiration from the hanami festivals in Japan where there are blossom trees on a huge scale. The National Trust in Birmingham has experienced lots of tourists coming to take photos of the blossoms and share them.
The Birmingham National Trust’s Blossom programme, will see 600 blossom trees planted along the city’s number 11 bus route in January to create a “ring of blossom” around the city.
The project is a reference to Birmingham’s botanical history when it was once known as a “town ringed by blossom” due to being surrounded by gardens and orchards in the mid-18th century.
The Trust says that it wants the trees to blossom each year and for people to enjoy them and remember the process behind it.
The Birmingham tree-planting is the latest instalment in the trust’s legacy programme planting blossom trees in major UK cities.
The London Blossom Garden in east London opened in May 2021 to commemorate those that lost their lives to the coronavirus pandemic, and blossom trees have also been planted in cities including Plymouth, Nottingham and Newcastle.
It has also concentrated its blossom tree-planting in urban areas where people have less access to nature and green spaces.
Richard