Carol Klein talks about the countless joys of garden trees
Planting one in spring is a sign of hope and cheer for the future The countless joys of GARDEN TREES
Coming out of winter and going into spring is probably the best time there is to plant a tree. Not only horticulturally – the soil is beginning to warm up, roots will be encouraged to move out and sap will begin to flow – but also symbolically, an optimistic act always, but especially so this spring.
Planting a tree is planting for the long term – for the future.
At my age, it’s unlikely that
I’ll be around to see any tree
I plant now reach maturity, but that’s irrelevant. Trees bring joy throughout their lives to all who see them; wildlife, especially birds and insects, find shelter and often sustenance from them.
On a bigger scale, they’re the most important plants on our planet – its lifeblood. Trees are the most permanent features in our gardens.
Choosing the right tree is vital and the smaller the space, the more important our choice; a long season of interest with blossom, foliage, fruit and an attractive silhouette are all factors. The tree must be to scale, too. Its eventual height and spread are important considerations. Some gardeners are put off planting a tree, having heard stories about tree roots undermining foundations and destroying damp courses. With a bit of common sense this is seldom a problem – but it’s worth working out how far your tree’s roots will spread – roughly to the same dimensions as its branches. Ornamental ‘garden’ trees rather than forest giants – unless you’ve got a country estate – are the most suitable.
Many fruit trees – and an apple tree may be the perfect choice for a small garden or to grow in a container – are grown on dwarfing rootstocks, ensuring they’ll always remain a reasonable size without restricting the amount of blossom and fruit they’ll bear.
Crab apples are a great choice and there are so many from which to choose, some with upright, fastigiate growth, some with spreading branches and a few with elegant, pendulous branches.
One of the most important trees here at Glebe Cottage is our crab apple, malus ‘Golden Hornet’. A truly fecund tree, it’s abuzz with bees in May, feeding on its pretty pink and white blossom, invariably followed by countless amber fruit. We even chopped off great chunks of its fruit-laden branches for decoration for our daughter Alice’s wedding at the end of September a few years ago. It plays host to a handsome viticella clematis ‘Huldine’ with mother-ofpearl flowers, whose pruning has necessitated several adventurous jaunts into its topmost branches.
Once you’ve decided which tree you want, you can choose either an open-ground tree or one grown in a container. Because they’re dormant now, it’s only during the winter months you can plant openground trees, whereas containergrown trees can be planted all year round. The former are cheaper.
In both cases, planting is much the same. Having chosen a site and a clement day with no frost, dig a hole at least twice as wide as the rootball and deep enough so that when you return the soil, preferably improved with organic matter, the top of the rootball is level with the surrounding soil. Jiggle the tree around as you’re planting to ensure there are no air pockets and firm well with your foot. Water well to settle the soil, both initially and in the subsequent few weeks. Then step back and watch it grow!
‘Trees bring joy throughout their lives to all who see them’