New Tree for the Garden

I am looking at planting a sapling tree in my Garden, the tree in question would be a Beech Tree. It would be planted in the western side of the garden. From what I have read I would need to plant the sapling by the end of February. Can anybody advise on any prep I need to the soil before I plant said Sapling

 

Beech trees can grow very, very tall - are you sure you really, really want one?

 

Have you a big garden? Not only are they tall, they a pretty wide too. I had a copper beech in my last garden, which was big. The tree was glorious but there were masses of leaves to clear up in the autumn and it made a lot of shade. It looked lovely where it was but wouldn't have done in a small garden.

 

Anyway, about planting. It rather depends on your soil. If you have good soil just dig a large hole, break up the earth a bit, put in the tree and fill-up the hole. If your soil is poor then add some compost or well rotted manure dug into the soil.

I planted a silver birch in my heavy clay soil. I dug in a lot of compost and threw away some of the really heavy soil in the hole. It is growing well and by the time the roots have filled the hole they should be strong enough to push further.

 

Understand about the beech being tall which did not worry me but I did not think about how wide it would be and that would be an issue.

So my second Rowan would be a Rowan, looking for something that will be a thin type of tree, have considered Silver Birch but there is one in the street or possibly a Hawthorn

 

I have a mature Rowan in my garden, it is conical in shape, so not too wide. Some varieties are rounded and there are also columnar varieties. Mine is the common Sorbus aucuparia, or Mountain Ash, which produces red berries, very popular with birds, particularly blackbirds.

The current recommended practice when planting trees is to dig a square hole to encourage the roots to spread outwards rather than in a circle. I don’t really think it matters, as long as the hole is bigger than the rootball and you break up the soil to improve drainage. Plant the tree at the same level as it was in the pot, using a bamboo cane placed horizontally across the planting hole to check, if necessary, and support your tree with a stake while it is young. Keep it well watered during its first year while it is getting established.

 

Either Hawthorn or Rowan would a be good choice. Hawthorn might be the more upright and shorter tree and easy (though thorny) to prune. Rowan does well in sandy soil according to the RHS and might be taller and wider than wanted. Both would be good for wildlife as both bear berries.

If you live in Bournemouth your soil is more likely to be a sandy, acid one so you would need to dig some manure to beef the soil up(comes in bags from a GC) into the planting hole, which you could do before February.
Have a look at the RHS site to see both, including dimensions etc.

 

I agree with rowan, mine gives me a lot of pleasure watching the birds eating the berries. It doesn't spread too far or cast a heavy shade. Traditionally it's also supposed to protect you from witches!

 

This is a useful discussion for me as well actually. A few months ago, I planted a small beech tree. I don't have a large garden.

My understanding however is that, with it being a hedging plant, it can be kept small by frequent pruning. I assumed that keeping it small would also prevent it from getting wide. If that's incorrect, I'll probably have to replace it in Spring

By the way I love Rowans as well. I have one that produces apricot/orange berries ("Apricot Queen") and I think they look great with the colours of the leaves. By looking online, I also like the look of the Cashmiriana one, that has white berries (that one from a different group of Rowans, not Aucuparia).

 

Thanks to Lizzie27 for the suggestion to check the RHS website, went through the list of tree they had and looking at this Rowan, Sorbus Autumn Spire ('Flanrock') (PBR), mountain ash, Rowan (syn. Sorbus 'Flanrock')

Buy mountain ash, Rowan (syn. Sorbus 'Flanrock') Sorbus 'Autumn Spire ('Flanrock') (PBR)'

Especially as it is only has a spread of 1.5mtr

So will have a lot to get done before the end of February

 

I can imagine beech in a hedge - and as a full grown tree - but I find it hard to imagine any in-between state that would look good. Maybe pollarding?

I have plenty of neighbours who plant trees and then just lop the tops off when they get too tall, and it looks awful.

 

Thanks @Escarpment

I definitely don't want the effect of a tree with its top cut off as harsh line. And I do want it to get to more than 3m or so, but keep it relatively slender, I don't want it to remain completely small.

I have never done this before so I might be completely naive about it, but I was thinking I would try to retain as much as a natural shape as possible i.e. not cut it in straight lines and try to mimic a natural shape, almost treating it like a piece of sculpture. Now that I am describing that, it does sound like a bit of a tall order

 

S. Cashmiriana is a lovely Rowan @Costas. It has a spreading habit and can be as wide as it is tall, from 4-8m, so it needs a good open space. I planted one too close to a fence when I first moved here and had to remove it. It doesn't take pruning well in a small space. The berries are longer lasting than most but I think that's because they're not very popular with birds. They only got eaten in my garden after all the red ones had gone.

 

I think you could easily raise the canopy to improve the look by removing some lower branches but I wouldn't touch the leader as you will lose the natural shape. I grow a hedging plant, Griselinia, which would grow into a tree if I let it but it happily accepts any pruning, either harsh, loose but natural, or topiary shapes. Have a go, if it doesn't work, you can find a replacement .

 

It's going to take a good few years to determine whether it works or not though. Might be better to just find a tree that naturally grows to 3m ish and stays slender!