In message .com,
"Cat(h)" writes
On Apr 13, 1:31 pm, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:
In message .com,
"Cat(h)" writes
On Apr 13, 12:02 am, Sacha wrote:
On 12/4/07 23:24, in article
. com, "Cat(h)"
wrote:
snip
This is a willow (I think) a couple of miles away, and it's pretty
upright by local standards.
http://tinypic.com/view.php?pic=3zbu6ua
Cat(h)
Instead of a tree which might well give up the struggle, is a seat a
possibility - a bench where people who also enjoy that place and its views
would remember the person to be commemorated?
--
That is not my call, and the people concerned are keen on something
living. As I said before, certain things *do* grow there, and given a
little shelter belt or such, I think it is not beyond possible. It
may sound like a lot of bother, but it is worth trying, as it is very
important to the people concerned.
Thank you Sacha, and all, for your kind suggestions!
Cat(h)
If you could give us some more details on the site, such as how far from
the coast it is, what direction the sea is from the site, whether it's
on a headland or a bay, etc. All this will make a difference; 10 feet
from the high tide line, on a headland in the teeth of westerly gales,
is different from 50 feet back from the coast, in a sheltered
east-facing location.
In some locations very little, if anything, in the way of trees will
survive; in others you could possibly even grown palms (Trachycarpus)
and pseudo-palms (Cordyline).
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -
Fair point.
I'd say it's about 500 metres from the coast as the crow flies. It's
on the side of a little valley which opens out to a bay and is
(roughly) W/NW facing. The sea is to its West. I couldn't venture a
guess as to its altitude, but it is only a few metres up from ground
zero (sea level).
As the locality goes, it is more sheltered than many other areas, but
it can get battered in not infrequent storms.
The site is sloping, and there are a number of little fields around
it, many with hedgerows mostly made up of willow, fuschia and
brambles.
One side of the site is such a hedgerow, kind of dug into a ditch, and
which is relatively high at maybe 4 to 5 m, and this and the rest of
the topography *does* provide some shelter. The site has a newly
built house on it, and there are a number of houses around.
I'm not pessimistic of giving a potential tree (or to quote you large
bush) a feasible home there - I am just wondering what tree will meet
the challenge, while being attractive and preferably native.
I hope this helps. Thank you for your thoughts !
Cat(h)
When you said sea-side location and salty winds I assumed somewhere
closer to the sea and more exposed.
At 500m from the sea, it's not necessarily immune from sculpting by
salt-winds - I've seen significantly lop-sided hedgerow trees further
from the sea near the Solway Firth, in exposed locations, but the Solway
is probably less windy in general than your location.
How long is the tree meant to survive; 50 years or 500?
I won't promise anything; I neither know exactly how exposed your site
is, not exactly how tolerant the trees are; but Silver Birch (Betula
pendula) or Rowan (Sorbus aucuparia) might do. (I suspect that the Irish
Whitebeam (Sorbus hibernica), which grows in the Burren, wouldn't like
your acid soil). Birches and Rowans are short-lived.
Nick's suggestion of a pine or oak might also do - ones that come to my
mind as doing well in coastal locations are Monterey Pine (Pinus
radiata), Weymouth Pine (Pinus strobus) and Stone Pine (Pinus
pineaster). Maybe also a suitable variety of the black pine (Pinus
nigra), or a Scots Pine (Pinus sylvestris). These however take longer to
become attractive trees.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley