On 5 Jul, 19:56, Blairadamwitch Blairadamwitch.
wrote:
Hi,
Looking for advice on a tree to plant in my small front garden.

Don't want anything too expensive and would prefer an evergreen but
I'm flexible. My soil is clay builders junk/rubble.

I'd consider a fruit tree. Apples need another apple to polinate them
but you can get trees with several varieties grafted onto one root
stock to solve that sort of thing, and they are not too expensive.
Over a very long period the stronger one will come to dominate, but
they can be fun for 10 years or so, and longer with artful pruning.
Go and chat to a good, independant, local garden centre (not the DIY
sheds) and they will find you something suitable for the area and for
your needs . Think too about plums, or pears or cherries, but be
prepared in any case to wait for your first crops.

You will almost certainly want to improve the soil somewhat, at least
to give it a decent start. Dig out a biggish hole and mix any
vegetable matter/ well rotted compost/ riding school waste into the
existing stuff - the rubble will help with drainage.

Make sure you plant the tree with the graft above ground level, and
stake it well. Put a long stake in several inches away from the trunk
and use figure-of-eight ties to give it support. Loosen these each
year until you think it is strong enough to last without the stake -
this can be up to 5 years in windy areas.

Mix some bonemal into the soil when planting to help with root
formation, and if the area is dry in the summer bury a length of scrap
pipe a long way down and sticking out of the soil. Water down that to
encourage the roots to go downwards, not spread at the surface.
Trees need a lot of water in early years until the roots get down deep
enough.

Trees are sold bare-rooted or container grown. Bare rooted trees are
best planted in the winter or spring, and container grown can be
planted at almost any time unless it is really hot and dry. The
bigger the container the better and the more expensive.