Smallish garden: 2 similar trees or 2 contrasts?
 

Hi

I have a 12m x 6m suburban garden. In the back left corner there's a concrete hard standing (old wendy house base?), 2.5m x 3m which I am going to pave and make into a plant patio (ie no table/chairs, just my potted hosta collection).

A paved path runs from the house to the patio, bounding a 1m wide garden bed to its left.

I want to put in 2 trees, one to the left and one to the right of the hard standing, obviously suitably spaced away from the boundary fence and the patio itself. They need to have an upright habit and not grow too big and overwhelming.

Should I pick two identical trees; 2 similar trees or 2 contrasting trees?

Currently we are looking at birch, small mountain ash, cherry - but other suggestions welcome.

My 'fear' regarding contrasting trees is are we trying to cram too much variety into what is a small garden? BUT would 2 very similar trees look boring?!

Thanks for your thoughts.

PS We are in the south of England

Smallish garden: 2 similar trees or 2 contrasts?
 

On Fri, 27 May 2011 10:43:49 +0000, miljee
wrote:


Hi

I have a 12m x 6m suburban garden. In the back left corner there's a
concrete hard standing (old wendy house base?), 2.5m x 3m which I am
going to pave and make into a plant patio (ie no table/chairs, just my
potted hosta collection).

A paved path runs from the house to the patio, bounding a 1m wide garden
bed to its left.

I want to put in 2 trees, one to the left and one to the right of the
hard standing, obviously suitably spaced away from the boundary fence
and the patio itself. They need to have an upright habit and not grow
too big and overwhelming.

Should I pick two identical trees; 2 similar trees or 2 contrasting
trees?

Currently we are looking at birch, small mountain ash, cherry - but
other suggestions welcome.

My 'fear' regarding contrasting trees is are we trying to cram too much
variety into what is a small garden? BUT would 2 very similar trees look
boring?!

Thanks for your thoughts.

Your suggestions are too big for the garden, and will soon enough have
to be removed, which is OK, but a hassle. I'd be inclined to put in
two dwarf (M9) apple trees of different varieties: for blossom they're
among the very best flowering trees, and you get something to eat into
the bargain. That's what I've done in my own small garden. Boring in
winter, though. Or maybe one food apple and one fancy crab, if you
want something more deliberately and outrageously decorative. But I
don't think there's a crab variety which will finish up less than
about 4m tall; if there is, people in this group will know.

--
Mike.

I agree that a british silver birch will grow far too large, but some of the other species will grow much more slowly. They will eventually get too large, but I think you'd get 15-20 years out of them.

Something like Sorbus Joseph Rock will grow tall but not too wide, and I have a pink berried Sorbus which is still tiny after 10 years. And there are small cherries too, not just the ubiquitous Amanagawa.

Red Jade is a weeping crab - mine is 2m after 15 years. But totally wrong for here - what it lacks in height it makes up in width. Also, while it's stunning in blossom, the crabs are about pea sized.

For winter interest one could look at a snake bark maple or Prunus serrula - both on the basis that they might need to be removed later on.

Smallish garden: 2 similar trees or 2 contrasts?
 

On May 27, 5:09*pm, Mike Lyle wrote:
On Fri, 27 May 2011 10:43:49 +0000, miljee





wrote:

Hi

I have a 12m x 6m suburban garden. In the back left corner there's a
concrete hard standing (old wendy house base?), 2.5m x 3m which I am
going to pave and make into a plant patio (ie no table/chairs, just my
potted hosta collection).

A paved path runs from the house to the patio, bounding a 1m wide garden
bed to its left.

I want to put in 2 trees, one to the left and one to the right of the
hard standing, obviously suitably spaced away from the boundary fence
and the patio itself. They need to have an upright habit and not grow
too big and overwhelming.

Should I pick two identical trees; 2 similar trees or 2 contrasting
trees?

Currently we are looking at birch, small mountain ash, cherry - but
other suggestions welcome.

My 'fear' regarding contrasting trees is are we trying to cram too much
variety into what is a small garden? BUT would 2 very similar trees look
boring?!

Thanks for your thoughts.

Your suggestions are too big for the garden, and will soon enough have
to be removed, which is OK, but a hassle. I'd be inclined to put in
two dwarf (M9) apple trees of different varieties: for blossom they're
among the very best flowering trees, and you get something to eat into
the bargain. That's what I've done in my own small garden. Boring in
winter, though. Or maybe one food apple and one fancy crab, if you
want something more deliberately and outrageously decorative. But I
don't think there's a crab variety which will finish up less than
about 4m tall; if there is, people in this group will know.

--
Mike.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Just a thought.
Bill the trees impact on neighbours?
Block sunlight to their gardens. Overhang their gardens, etc?

Talk to them, I guess. I'd *love" my neighbours to plant more trees. The fewer houses I can see from my garden, the better.

Smallish garden: 2 similar trees or 2 contrasts?
 

On 05/28/2011 10:05 AM, kay wrote:
Something like Sorbus Joseph Rock will grow tall but not too wide, and I
have a pink berried Sorbus which is still tiny after 10 years. And there
are small cherries too, not just the ubiquitous Amanagawa.


How tall to you reckon it will get, Kay? I've got a young one and I'm a
little concerned about some electrical wires. It's 2 years in the
ground, and growing like gangbusters. Could probably just about move it
next winter, still.

Red Jade is a weeping crab - mine is 2m after 15 years. But totally
wrong for here - what it lacks in height it makes up in width. Also,
while it's stunning in blossom, the crabs are about pea sized.


Agree totally, the crabs are very disappointing, but stunning in blossom
and a bit earlier that the other crabs.

For winter interest one could look at a snake bark maple or Prunus
serrula - both on the basis that they might need to be removed later on.


You might try Acer x conspicuum 'Silver Vein.' It stays quite small,
grows slowly, has just about the best bark of all the snakebarks (which
is saying something), and is very showy with shiny new leaves, red
petioles, long fronds of samaras, pretty yellow orange fall colour.
Pretty much a great 4 season tree, ideal for a small garden.

-E

Which one? The Joseph Rock? I dunno - I guess you'd have to Google for eventual height. Mine has been in about 18 years, I'm really dreadful at estimating heights, but I'd guess it's about 6m - about 2ft higher than the mulberry that went in at about the same time.

I'm on clay in a frost pocket at 400ft in Yorkshire, so not the best growing conditions.

You'll change your mind once those neighbor's trees start raining dead leaves on your garden.

Doubt it. I already cope with the dead leaves from 3 mature horse chestnuts the other side of the road, the copper beech and mature lime in the churchyard, the twigs from my neighbours 3 full size silver birches, along with my own various cherries, sorbuses, hawthorns, hollies, magnolias, apples, pears, quinces, medlar, mulberry ...

The extra trees I'd like to screen off houses aren't going to make much difference.