Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

On 23/2/09 19:12, in article
,
" wrote:


From the shape & condition of this tree as well as its likely age - it
looks like it's been 'rescued' several times before. It's badly
misshapen, is rotting in more than 1 places, is not a good fruiter &
would need to be savagely cut back to even last another few years.
I've been told by the tree surgeon & also an experienced professional
gardener that it's on it's way out.

Frankly - it's a pretty sorry thing and while it might be technically
possible to prolong its life by another couple of years, to be honest
in my books it's time has come, so any advice on replacement would be
welcome.

Regards,

Michael

If you live in the right place I'd suggest a Crinodendron hookerianum which
will take temps down to about -7C. It's evergreen and if you don't know it
already, has lovely red lantern like flowers. It grows to around 20'
eventually. Hoheria sexstylosa is another lovely, graceful and 'airy' tree
with white flowers in August that are scented. Again it's not hardy in the
coldest areas. Camellias are lovely and you can always plant a late
flowering Clematis at their base which will use the Camellia as a frame to
climb through, giving you two lots of colour at different times of year.
Hornbeams are attractive smallish trees (look for Carpinus betulus and the
form Fastigiata is lovely if you want something on the narrow upright style)
And of course, you could always plant another apple tree!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Perennials & shrubs online

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

Sacha wrote:
[]

If you live in the right place I'd suggest a Crinodendron hookerianum which
will take temps down to about -7C. It's evergreen and if you don't know it
already, has lovely red lantern like flowers. It grows to around 20'
eventually. Hoheria sexstylosa is another lovely, graceful and 'airy' tree
with white flowers in August that are scented. Again it's not hardy in the
coldest areas. Camellias are lovely and you can always plant a late
flowering Clematis at their base which will use the Camellia as a frame to
climb through, giving you two lots of colour at different times of year.
Hornbeams are attractive smallish trees (look for Carpinus betulus and the
form Fastigiata is lovely if you want something on the narrow upright style)
And of course, you could always plant another apple tree!

Goodness Sacha, don't you like the paperbark maple? ;)

-E

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

On 24/2/09 13:19, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
[]

If you live in the right place I'd suggest a Crinodendron hookerianum which
will take temps down to about -7C. It's evergreen and if you don't know it
already, has lovely red lantern like flowers. It grows to around 20'
eventually. Hoheria sexstylosa is another lovely, graceful and 'airy' tree
with white flowers in August that are scented. Again it's not hardy in the
coldest areas. Camellias are lovely and you can always plant a late
flowering Clematis at their base which will use the Camellia as a frame to
climb through, giving you two lots of colour at different times of year.
Hornbeams are attractive smallish trees (look for Carpinus betulus and the
form Fastigiata is lovely if you want something on the narrow upright style)
And of course, you could always plant another apple tree!

Goodness Sacha, don't you like the paperbark maple? ;)

-E

I love it but Michael did say "today's fave", so I was widening the field a
bit - or the gap in the hedge. ;-) And then I was sort of musing on
hedge/privacy/evergreen etc. with some of them. And the other lovely tree
we've planted a few of lately is the Betula jacquemontii - they're such
graceful and elegant trees, IMO.

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Perennials & shrubs online

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

Sacha wrote:
On 24/2/09 13:19, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
[]
If you live in the right place I'd suggest a Crinodendron hookerianum which
will take temps down to about -7C. It's evergreen and if you don't know it
already, has lovely red lantern like flowers. It grows to around 20'
eventually. Hoheria sexstylosa is another lovely, graceful and 'airy' tree
with white flowers in August that are scented. Again it's not hardy in the
coldest areas. Camellias are lovely and you can always plant a late
flowering Clematis at their base which will use the Camellia as a frame to
climb through, giving you two lots of colour at different times of year.
Hornbeams are attractive smallish trees (look for Carpinus betulus and the
form Fastigiata is lovely if you want something on the narrow upright style)
And of course, you could always plant another apple tree!
Goodness Sacha, don't you like the paperbark maple? ;)

-E

I love it but Michael did say "today's fave", so I was widening the field a
bit - or the gap in the hedge. ;-) And then I was sort of musing on
hedge/privacy/evergreen etc. with some of them. And the other lovely tree
we've planted a few of lately is the Betula jacquemontii - they're such
graceful and elegant trees, IMO.


They are indeed. Mine was planted 2 seasons ago and has done very
poorly I'm afraid. It died back considerably in the late frosts last
year, and looks more than a little sad. Do you know if there's anything
in particular I should do to perk it up?

cheers,

-E

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

On 24/2/09 17:00, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
snip
And the other lovely tree
we've planted a few of lately is the Betula jacquemontii - they're such
graceful and elegant trees, IMO.


They are indeed. Mine was planted 2 seasons ago and has done very
poorly I'm afraid. It died back considerably in the late frosts last
year, and looks more than a little sad. Do you know if there's anything
in particular I should do to perk it up?

cheers,

-E

I asked Ray about this and he was surprised that it *was* affected by frost,
considering its origins. I know you're a bit of a tree expert but could
there possibly be some other cause?

--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Perennials & shrubs online

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

On Feb 24, 2:32*pm, Sacha wrote:

I love it but Michael did say "today's fave", so I was widening the field a
bit - or the gap in the hedge. *;-) *And then I was sort of musing on
hedge/privacy/evergreen etc. with some of them. *And the other lovely tree
we've planted a few of lately is the Betula jacquemontii - they're such
graceful and elegant trees, IMO.

I guess I was being slightly flippant when I wrote "today's fave" -
I've been looking at them on & off for a few months. My slight
concern was their slow growth rate - so interesting to see that you
pointed that out. One of the other reasons I was interested in them
was that a couple of years ago I planted a Prunus serrula about 30
feet away & thought they might go well (or does that count as too much
of a good thing?). The autumn colour would also be welcome.

Many thanks for the other suggestions - I’m guess I’m really looking
for a tree as it needs at least some height & also I’d prefer thinner
rather than very spreading. I’ll take a closer look at the birch you
mentioned as my wife had already suggested a birch.

Michael

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

On 24/2/09 21:28, in article
,
" wrote:

On Feb 24, 2:32*pm, Sacha wrote:

I love it but Michael did say "today's fave", so I was widening the field a
bit - or the gap in the hedge. *;-) *And then I was sort of musing on
hedge/privacy/evergreen etc. with some of them. *And the other lovely tree
we've planted a few of lately is the Betula jacquemontii - they're such
graceful and elegant trees, IMO.

I guess I was being slightly flippant when I wrote "today's fave" -
I've been looking at them on & off for a few months. My slight
concern was their slow growth rate - so interesting to see that you
pointed that out. One of the other reasons I was interested in them
was that a couple of years ago I planted a Prunus serrula about 30
feet away & thought they might go well (or does that count as too much
of a good thing?). The autumn colour would also be welcome.

I don't think it was I who pointed out the slow growth rate, so I'm not
going to pinch someone else's credit! ;-)

Many thanks for the other suggestions - I¹m guess I¹m really looking
for a tree as it needs at least some height & also I¹d prefer thinner
rather than very spreading. I¹ll take a closer look at the birch you
mentioned as my wife had already suggested a birch.

Michael


Yes, those birches are really lovely. But in the end you'll choose what you
like best and that's just as it should be!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials online

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

Sacha wrote:
On 24/2/09 17:00, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

Sacha wrote:
snip
And the other lovely tree
we've planted a few of lately is the Betula jacquemontii - they're such
graceful and elegant trees, IMO.

They are indeed. Mine was planted 2 seasons ago and has done very
poorly I'm afraid. It died back considerably in the late frosts last
year, and looks more than a little sad. Do you know if there's anything
in particular I should do to perk it up?

cheers,

-E

I asked Ray about this and he was surprised that it *was* affected by frost,
considering its origins. I know you're a bit of a tree expert but could
there possibly be some other cause?


Ha, you are too kind (and misinformed!) :) I know something about one
genus of tree, but about birches I'm pretty ignorant.

Could well be something else. It was planted in the place where a
Dragon's Claw Willow had been. The willow suffered from a lot of
die-back, as they will, so I moved it to a much swampier area; but it
was well dug out with a mini JCB.

The birch did flood quite a bit it's first winter as it was very wet.
Then along with many other plants it was fully leafed out when in early
March we had snow and hard freezing. That's when it died back, along
with many other trees here. I had planted a rare A. longipes ssp
catalpifolium as a FS that fall, it froze back to the ground. (That one
is known to be a bit tender, mind you.)


-E

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

On 25/2/09 08:26, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

snip

The birch did flood quite a bit it's first winter as it was very wet.
Then along with many other plants it was fully leafed out when in early
March we had snow and hard freezing. That's when it died back, along
with many other trees here. I had planted a rare A. longipes ssp
catalpifolium as a FS that fall, it froze back to the ground. (That one
is known to be a bit tender, mind you.)


-E

It does sound as if they've been through the mill, poor things - and poor
you with the disappointment!
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials online

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

Best Approach for Replacing an Old Tree
 

On 26/2/09 08:14, in article , "Emery
Davis" wrote:

wrote:
On Feb 24, 2:32 pm, Sacha wrote:

I love it but Michael did say "today's fave", so I was widening the field a
bit - or the gap in the hedge. ;-) And then I was sort of musing on
hedge/privacy/evergreen etc. with some of them. And the other lovely tree
we've planted a few of lately is the Betula jacquemontii - they're such
graceful and elegant trees, IMO.

I guess I was being slightly flippant when I wrote "today's fave" -
I've been looking at them on & off for a few months. My slight
concern was their slow growth rate - so interesting to see that you
pointed that out. One of the other reasons I was interested in them
was that a couple of years ago I planted a Prunus serrula about 30
feet away & thought they might go well (or does that count as too much
of a good thing?). The autumn colour would also be welcome.


Just to follow up on the growth speed of A. griseum, you can expect 6-8
inches of top growth in decent soil, per year. So it's not as slow as some.

The fall colour is often overlooked but in our climates it is one of the
best of all the maples for fall colour. (And that's saying something.)

-E

And thinking of that, the man who originally created our garden planted two
Disanthus cercidifolius, neither of which survive, sadly. But he
recommended them very highly for their wonderful autumn colour in England's
comparatively mild, wet autumns. Its drawback seems to be that, while it's
hardy, its young foliage or buds are susceptible to late spring frosts and
need protection. Perhaps that's why it's not widely seen.
--
Sacha
http://www.hillhousenursery.com
South Devon
Exotic plants, shrubs & perennials online