I'm after two trees for our front garden. It's about 50' by 70' but some of
that is veg patch and drive. I want to put in one or two trees which will
reach about 25' and be not too broad. The garden faces north but we are in a
bungalow so the shade is not too bad (i.e. some of it does get sun). It is
alkaline clay. I want trees that "do" something, preferably flower. I've
been looking and have thought about a Judas Tree (Cercis siliquastrum) and a
Wedding Cake Tree (Cornus contraversa Variegata). Would these be any good?
Does anyone have any experience with them? TIA,

--
Hayley
(gardening on well drained, alkaline clay in Somerset)

H Ryder wrote:
I'm after two trees for our front garden. It's about 50' by 70' but some of
that is veg patch and drive. I want to put in one or two trees which will
reach about 25' and be not too broad. The garden faces north but we are in a
bungalow so the shade is not too bad (i.e. some of it does get sun). It is
alkaline clay. I want trees that "do" something, preferably flower. I've
been looking and have thought about a Judas Tree (Cercis siliquastrum) and a
Wedding Cake Tree (Cornus contraversa Variegata). Would these be any good?
Does anyone have any experience with them? TIA,

We have the Cornus contraversa variegata growing behind a low wall and
in a fair amount of shade. It's grown pretty quickly and is a
beautiful thing. It will spread and take up a fair bit of room in
time, though, so you'd need to be sure you've got room for that and
another. I would recommend also Gleditsia triacanthos Sunburst and a
Myrtus communis. The bark of the latter takes on the most lovely
reddish brown colour as the tree matures.
--
Sacha
www.hillhousenursery.co.uk

On Sat, 01 Apr 2006 09:16:11 GMT
"H Ryder" wrote:

I'm after two trees for our front garden. It's about 50' by 70' but some of
that is veg patch and drive. I want to put in one or two trees which will
reach about 25' and be not too broad. The garden faces north but we are in a
bungalow so the shade is not too bad (i.e. some of it does get sun). It is
alkaline clay. I want trees that "do" something, preferably flower. I've
been looking and have thought about a Judas Tree (Cercis siliquastrum) and a
Wedding Cake Tree (Cornus contraversa Variegata). Would these be any good?
Does anyone have any experience with them? TIA,


I have a Wedding Cake tree in full sun, but acid soil. I had understood
that like most Cornus they preferred at least mild acid. Mine is
only a few years in the ground but seems very happy. I have a few
Cornus (I added a C. contraversa 'Winter Orange' this year) and
have found I need to lighten the soil for them to establish well.
After a while they do fine in our heavy soil without further
amendment.

You might find C. alternifolia 'Argentea' stays a little smaller
than contraversa, with similar flowers and leaves (though
smaller) and a more delicate habit.

I impulse bought a Cercis this winter from a garden center,
but they didn't know the species. They are all pretty trees
though, so hopefully I'll not be disappointed. And be able to
figure out what it is!

-E


--
Emery Davis
You can reply to ecom
by removing the well known companies