New Tree for the Garden

That's what I would do now, after a previous mistake! It depends whether @CostasK likes the tree and wants to try to keep it.

 

Thanks @Plantminded and @Escarpment and apologies @Dorset-Tim for using your thread for my query.

I will need to decide whether I have the patience to see the experiment through. In general, I am not the most patient person ever, and I do tend to jump on opportunities to buy new plants

In my case, it could be that the best "tree" is not even a tree. It could be a very tall grass for instance. Or a shrub.

Here is a quick photo of the area by the way. Please pretend you can't see the horrible "chargrilled effect" caused by the paint coming off the screening

 

Is the screening the boundary between you and a neighbour? You will have to keep the tree the size of a hedge if it is. It's planted quite close to the screen.

 

I think you need something evergreen to hide that screening .

 

Hi @Busy-Lizzie When I looked into it, that guidance only applies when you have an actual hedge. It does not if it's a solidary tree. If we weren't allow to break up the fence line, gardens with the same arrangement as mine would be very boring.

@Plantminded either that, or replace the screening

Of course I wouldn't get something that would completely shade the garden behind me, or that I would allow to get too big. I always aim to be sensible and considerate of my neighbours (even though that specific one isn't himself, at all, so I feel slightly less inclined to go the extra mile).

 

Hello @CostasK. I'm Busy-Lizzie, not Lizzie27.

I live in France a lot of the time where it is forbidden to grow trees higher than 2 metres that close to a boundary fence. The rest of the time I'm in Norfolk where the neighbour's Leylandii and Acer shade a lot of our garden and dump leaves and twigs into it.

 

Thanks @Busy-Lizzie I realised my mistake and edited the post right before you pointed that out

Leylandii are awful. And actually there were a couple across that boundary when I bought the house. I am only interested in trees and shrubs which are manageable and not overly dense (in general, not just for that spot)

 

Even with a hedge, it only applies to evergreens / semi-evergreens and it's difficult to enforce. The aggrieved person has to pay a fee to pursue a high hedge dispute. There is no rule covering the height of individual trees whether evergreen or not.

 

How close is "that close" and who decides? A full grown tree right in the centre of most of our little gardens would provide a significant amount of shading to neighbouring gardens.

 

We have a copper beech hedge and a copper beech thing. The thing was a volunteer plant but because I like them I let it grow. The benefit of beech, as I see it, is they can be manipulated into anything you want. I'm playing with it a little in a bonsai kind of way to make a small tree like form. They might reach parkland tree size in a few hundred years but can be cut and started again if you want to control it's growth. Might be worth playing with it unless you do want something completely natural. I have rowans already for that in my garden so am just using the beech more experimentally.

 

In France a tree has to be planted at least 2m from the boundary, but that doesn't apply in the UK so long as it doesn't cause damage.

 

Thank you @Thevictorian That's very interesting indeed. It sounds quite similar to my plan for that beech tree. I also want a small tree-like form (maybe around 3 - 3.5 m tall and relatively narrow). I don't want it to look rectangular, or massacred (e.g. bluntly taking the top off) - I want it to have a nice shape that doesn't feel really unnatural but from there on I am flexible.

 

Any thoughts on some of the smaller Magnolias, I tend to like trees that have a flamboyant stage each year, even some of the flowering dogwoods.

 

Definitely not a Beech tree! One of my ones was absolutely colossal. Not in my garden but in my field. They are great trees but not suitable for even quite big gardens .


Photos are of the Beech tree which fell in the gales of February 2022. It had a girth of 17 yes 17 feet. The weight of the timber was about 8 tonnes so these trees really are not suitable for a small space and neither are Silver Birch for the same reason.
I agree with Pete on a couple of his choices, Magnolia Stellata is extremely attractive and happy in alkali soil or maybe look at Pieris ( evergreen)if you have acidic soil. Has pretty white flowers similar to Lily of the Valley and dramatic bright red new foliage. Quite slow growing.
Sorbus are lovely but again you would need to pick one of the much smaller growing varieties. Sorbus Cashmiriana is very pretty. Has large white berries after pretty blossom and is small/ slow growing.

 

Beech is suitable for topiary and shaping @CostasK. These are columns at Wisley, image taken from the internet, there are lots of others .