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Think and plan before


SPECIALIST TREES


you plant that tree! by Mark Hinsley


As a practising arboricultural consultant a high proportion of my work is the result of somebody planting a tree; so please don’t stop!


However, I ask you to pause a while, have a think before you do and plan ahead.


I do understand your predicament. Planting a half standard pot-grown sapling in the middle of a space that would accommodate a mature oak tree feels silly, it looks so small! But little is more frustrating than seeing a really nice 30 year old oak that has to be felled because it has already outgrown the space it was planted into. What a waste of 30 years of growth! What a loss to posterity!


Trees and structures in very close proximity do not tend to be compatible. The structure that I most regularly see trees coming into conflict with, long before they reach maturity, is the boundary wall/fence. So many people plant trees far too close to the boundary. For a tree that is going to reach any kind of significant size at maturity a minimum of 2m(6ft) should be left between the tree and the boundary wall or fence (I know, now it is in the lawn) at the time of planting. That way (with a couple of exceptions) it will be 100 years before the tree is in serious conflict with the boundary treatment, and by then, who knows what we will be doing?


Tree canopies come in many different shapes and sizes (unless you live on Portland where they are all windswept and interesting with a heavy bias to the north-east!). Picking a canopy shape to fit your space is a good idea, although don’t be too conservative. Tall narrow canopy trees are described as fastigiate; these include such trees as Lombardy Poplar, Italian Cypress, Fastigiate Oak, Fastigiate Beech and a wealth of smaller Ornamental Cherries (Amanogawa), Crab Apples (tschonoskii) and Pears (Chanticleer). These sorts of trees, if planted 2m from the boundary, should just about stay inside the property foliage-wise as well. Although beware of Fastigiate Hornbeam, a beautiful tree, but inclined to get broad in


Give fools their gold, and knaves their power; Let fortune’s bubbles rise and fall; Who sows a field, or trains a flower, Or plants a tree, is more than all. - John Greenleaf Whittier (1807-1892), A Song of Harvest


The trick in planting a tree is to find out what it is going to grow into before you plant it. That way you’ll avoid most problems


the beam low down in later life (who doesn’t?), so that its mature form is not unlike a brandy bowl in shape.


At the other end of the scale are the weeping trees, such as Weeping Willow, Weeping Beech, Weeping Birch (Tristis – not Youngii, which is little more than a shrub) and the broad low canopy trees such as Catalpa (Indian Bean Tree). If you don’t want half your tree to be at the mercy of your next door neighbour or blocking the road, or growing through your bedroom window, these kinds of trees need a lot more room than 2m. In the case of Weeping Beech it is more like 20m(nearly 67ft)!


In between lies everything else. The trick is: find out what it is going to grow into before you plant it. Information is everywhere: the internet, books and libraries. Be a little wary of some garden centres, as not all give the best guidance regarding mature sizes and growth rates for trees, but true nurserymen do know what they are talking about. Finally, if you have room for a big tree, grow a big tree. If the predictions for climate change being made today are even half right, by the time your tree is mature, the person sitting under it will be very glad of the shade!


PS I know people worry about trees and proximity to buildings and I will deal with that in a future article.


Mark Hinsley MSc. Res Man(Arb). OND(Arb). M.Arbor.A. of Mark Hinsley Arboricultural Consultants Ltd.


Extensive range of plants - throughout the year Opening Hours: Mon - Sat 9.00am - 5.00pm Sun 10:00am - 5.00pm


154 Burley Road, Bransgore, Nr Christchurch Hants BH23 8DB Tel: 01425 672348 Email: office@macpennys.co.uk


Country Gardener 21


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