Quote:
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Originally Posted by Janet Tweedy
Does anyone grow a Cladrastis sinensis or C. Lutea? Anyone know "sharp
intake of breath" comments about them?
[snip]
Don't want anything too dense but dappled shade and to se the bottom of
the garden through the branches would be nice.
Reading the John Cushnie excellent book on trees I came across the
Cladrastis either the chines yellowwood (sinensis) or the American one
which has yellow flowers(lutea)
Most of the trees I liked had the ominous phrase "dislikes alkaline
soil" which is a bit of a blow really !
[snip]
Idea please?
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PFAF says this about C Lutea:
http://www.pfaf.org/database/plants....adrastis+lutea
Doesn't mention C. sinensis.
Whitebeams will definitely tolerate your conditions, and my parents have had a couple that have grown with a suitably light crown, albeit well spread. I rather like the silvery-green leaf colour, it is a highlight against the darker green of most trees.
One deciduous tree you could grow that would definitely let you see through the branches would be Nothofagus Antartica (bizarrely not on PFAF), as it has very small leaves. I have one at the bottom of my garden for that very reason (in Little Chalfont, but it sounds like my soil is less alkaline than yours as I have acers, magnolias, rhododendrons etc). If you want to inspect it, do contact me, or even take cuttings, as now is ideal cutting time for semi-ripe cuttings from it. It doesn't have flowers though (well it does but you need a magnifying glass to see them).
For showy flowers, among the flowering dogwoods, Cornus kousa has a relatively light crown and is supposedly tolerant of mild alkali and clay, short of a shallow chalky soil.
Another light-crowned tree is the Judas tree (Cercis siliquastrum), especially if you grow it as a standard rather than multi-stemmed. It will grow on limestone, but it does need reasonably well-drained conditions. It is rather slow growing, especially to start with, and expect it to take about 7 years to flower.