Dame Judi's mission to honour Queen's Jubilee

My memorial trees to late loved ones keep me rooted in the present. As she fronts a tree-planting campaign to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee next year, Dame Judi Dench reflects on her love of nature, lockdown TikTok routines... and how she came to be a Bond Girl

- Olivia Buxton

SEARCH online for “Dame Judi Dench” and “trees”, and there is a veritable forest of words written about her passion for them, alongside photographs of her stroking bark and even listening, with a sort of ear trumpet, to the wonderful sounds they make.

Also a staunch monarchist, it was hardly surprising that Dame Judi was given the honour of officially kicking off the Chelsea Flower Show which includes major exhibits to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee and highlight the climate crisis.

Dame Judi cut a garland at the Royal Horticultural Society event – held for the first time in autumn rather than spring because of Covid – to open the Queen’s Green Canopy Garden and encourage people nationwide to get planting trees.

The Garden is the largest plot at the show, with 21 trees and more than 3,500 plants, to highlight the importance of trees – something Dame Judi knows a lot about.

The Oscar-winning actress, 86, has turned the six-acre garden of her Surrey home into large natural woodland. She has added to the many mature trees already there when she bought the house with her late husband, the actor Michael Williams, 30 years ago by planting new saplings to commemorate relatives and friends who have died.

“I plant trees all the time in my garden,” said Dame Judi. “For every single friend of mine who’s died, I plant a tree. So my garden is quite full, and I have quite a lot more to go yet.”

And there is a space for another special tree, which will be planted next month, in honour of Her Majesty. “I have already got her tree to plant to mark the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, a Himalayan silver birch,” she explained.