"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
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The message
from "Rupert" contains these words:


"Janet Baraclough" wrote in message
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Snip
I would be surprised if
you find large mature willows and hornbeams in Ayrshire, and there's a
reason for that. Ayrshire is not much like England.

Janet. (Isle of Arran)


Look I know I am a dense Yorkshireman and that Hornbeams are Southern
bedwetter trees but I don't understand why they don't grow up there.
It's happy new year time and I still have a headache so please don't
shout
at me (yet)

(whisper)

I'm not sure. High rainfall, high winds, low light levels, acid
soil? Maybe hornbeam doesn't ripen seed here?

Like narrow leaved willows, hornbeam is just not a tree one often
sees in west Scotland. I've seen young ones planted, and done it myself,
but they tend not to survive long enough to make a fullgrown specimen
Willows with narrow leaves seem to succumb to a virus after a few years
(doesn't affect the shrubby native goat willow, salix caprea).

So, neither of them would be my trees of choice here, if the OP wants
something longlived or a large feature in the landscape. West Scotland
doesn't suit fedges and living-willow structures, either. A while back
every school and community garden went through a phase of planting
willow playhouses etc, but I've never seen one that survived longer than
a few years.

Janet

In this part of West Yorkshire the Tree preservation lot insist that
Hornbeam are their preferred trees for replanting in conservation areas etc.
Hornbeam are native to the SW of England on clay soil so it will be
interesting to see how they do up here.
How do Birch and Beech trees (close relatives?)fare in your part of the
world ?