For today's National Tree Week post here is a fine 360-degree panorama or photosphere of a scenic beech wood in Ireland.

Covered in moss and with its own little niche containing water, a wooden rockpool this was one of the finest trees in the woods. 

Beech trees Fagus sylvatica are not native to Ireland but these characterful imports from Europe have made a home here. From the famous Dark Hedges to woodlands and private gardens, beech grow well in Ireland and as seen here are happy on banks as they have shallow roots.

Producing abundant nuts, a walk through a beech wood is like no other as you crunch along under the tall trees and in autumn they provide a fine spectacle of red/brown colour.

Check out one of my other 360-degree panoramas of Trinity College Dublin's Long Room Library.

Like my previous post, this is one of trees providing shelter for animals but trees of course don't just provide shelter on cold and stormy days, as seen here on hot summer days too.

It was a hot day in Kilkenny, one of those fine June days when Ireland is awash with colour and the smell of warmth as temperatures hit the high 20s Celsius.

Stopping by the ruins of an old church we spotted the unfolding scene of horses chasing cows away from the shade of this tree.

Like a scene from a Western film we watched the riderless horses, with their sheeny-sweaty musculature, rounding up the relaxing cattle and herding them off into the large field before returning to the shady coolness under the protective canopy.

Ireland's National Tree Week is taking place all this week and Panoramic Ireland is posting every day about favourite trees in Ireland.

Panoramic Ireland's photography tours and workshops will be back again this year, hopefully in time to capture summer scenes like these. Contact us now for more information.

I have written about almost-treeless landscapes in Ireland before, usually upland areas such as here in the Wicklow Mountains.

And here, two old sycamore trees stand together alone above the boggy terrain, in bad weather providing shelter for sheep as seen in this image.

Sycamore Acer pseudoplatanus is not native to Ireland, thought to have been introduced from Europe before the 17th century being first recorded in Derry in 1610, it has now become widely naturalised and is one of Ireland's most common trees.

Sycamore is a strong and sturdy tree, able to withstand all that the Irish weather can deliver.

These sheep are quite happy to have two leafy sycamore sentinels sheltering them in the rugged, open Irish countryside.

Keep a look out for Panoramic Ireland's next tree post for National Tree Week 2021, coming tomorrow.

And find out more about our award-winning photography tours in Dublin for when you next visit Ireland.

This lone and windswept tree prepares for another tough year of growing, its short stature and horizontal growth shows the direction of prevailing winds.

Clearly this side of the small lake makes for difficult growing conditions, the far side being more sheltered and with deeper soils supports a small natural woodland of upright trees.

Trees provide a focal point for photography whether that be standalone trees on ridges or hills, deciduous woodlands or planted neatly in urban parks.

National Tree Week 2021 is here and I am posting some of my favourite tree images from over the years. Check back again tomorrow to see more.