TRUE FRIENDS FOR LIFE
Now is the time to plant a tree that will bring joy for decades
FORGET winter. Let’s look forward to spring when thrushes will sing from blossom-laden boughs. Almost every garden benefits from trees. The choice is vast and now is an excellent time for planting. But choose with care. A well-placed tree is a long-term joy, while the wrong one in an ill-chosen spot is a headache.
It’s essential to understand how large your tree will grow and what shape it will take. You also need to know whether its size can be controlled.
Holly, beech and hornbeam can be clipped to any size or shape. Magnolias can look awful when pruned. For large gardens, almost anything goes. For small spaces, there are charming little trees, such as dwarf conifers and small maples.
If planted in key positions, trees need multiple attributes. With or without blossom, a handsome outline is important, autumn colour is a bonus and, if the bark is beautiful, better still.
SELECT TO SUIT
FOR dry or sandy soils, the flowering Judas tree Cercis is dependable. Robinias are drought-proof and holly gives constant service.
On chalky soils, ornamental crab apples perform, as do Arbutus and mulberry. Hawthorns and ornamental cherries cope with heavy clay and for damp ground, try birch, amelanchier or ornamental pear.
On a large lawn, you could plant groups of paper-barked Acer griseum or white-trunked Betula
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For quicker results, use a big shrub or naturally suckering tree. Remove all but three or five main stems, cutting the rest away at ground level. Take off new suckers as they come, keep the selected trunks clean below the crown of the plant — and voila! — an attractively coppiced tree.
I’ve done that with dark-leaved hazel Corylus maxima Purpurea. It will also work with tall-growing lilacs, amelanchiers, catalpas and small maples. Some magnolias are multi-trunked.
GETTING STARTED
TREE planting is pretty straightforward. Dig a larger hole than the root ball needs and mix compost into the soil.
Tease congested roots out, but don’t allow them to become dry. Spread them in the hole and back-fill. Use a stout stake that holds the trunk firmly, but allows the rest of the tree to bend in the wind. Secure the stem with a tree tie and remove all support when the tree no longer needs it.