On Feb 26, 10:17*am, Jeff Layman wrote:
On 25/02/2012 15:52, AL_n wrote:





I wonder if anyone could help me decide on which tree to get for my back
garden. I need something to provide a bit of shade, and give some sense of
shelter, as it's a rather exposed coastal site. The soil is very alkaline
and below the shallow topsoil, is stony clay. The site gets fairly windy,
especially in winter. There is lots of sunshine in Summer. It's in the
South West of England with typically only a few nights of frost each year.

I want a tree that will only grow to about 12ft high absolute maximum, so
that it won't obscure the views from the upstairs window. Ideally the
braches will spread outwards for around 8 feet from the trunk, providing a
canopy of dappled shade on a summer's day, that can be walked under without
much obstruction from the branches.

I'd like something that is interesting and attractive, all year round. I
don't want anything too common, such as an apple, pear or cherry, unless
they are the only sensible option. It doesn't have to be a fruit tree.

I'll be planting it about 10ft from the rear of my house, in front of some
French windows that face East. The tree will get full sun for several hours
each sunny day.

I have wondered about a palm, because of the exotic feel they create, but
they seem to be expensive and slow-growing.

Something that develops a twisted, interesting-looking trunk would be
preferable to something with a boringly straight, smooth trunk.

I'd be looking to buying a sapling that is already about 8ft to 10ft tall -
one which would grow outwards, mostly and not gain too much additional
height.

Can anyone suggest anything?

Thank you,

One alternative is to create a framework for climbers, rather than have
one tree. *A single, sturdy, pole with a crossbeam top would allow you
to set the height and spread. *One or more evergreen or deciduous
climbers could provide shade and flower at different times of the year.
* You could even choose a fruiting climber if you wanted - if your soil
is as poor and chalky as you say, a grapevine wouldn't go amiss.

--

Jeff- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

Why not go the whole Hog and build a pergola, then a few vines on it
would do the job.

"David WE Roberts" wrote in
:

If you want to plant a 12' tree 10' from your house this is possibly
not advisable because the roots are likely to grow as broadly as the
height of the tree.
That close, a container grown tree might be more sensible.

To achieve your ideal you will probably have to prune a tree to limit
the height, and remove lower branches to give a canopy effect.

You might consider a container grown tree in a very large pot.
This allows you to manage the height and the root spread.

Thanks.. I've decided I can plant the tree an extra yard from the house,
and it can grow about 15ft tall if it's a flattish-topped tree (as oppsed
to a fanning-out tree such as you average tree.

The container idea is something I hadn't considered. It would have to be an
exceptionally large container, due to the windy conditions here (several
gales each winter are typical).

Al

"Bob Hobden" wrote in news:9quceoFqonU1
@mid.individual.net:

Albizia julibrissin*

This tree is exactly the kind of shape I'm looking for. Thank you for that
excellent suggestion. I like the idea also, because it would be something
different, yet would still look natural within the setting. I will
definitely investigate further.

A vaguely similar-shaped tree that I'm very interested in is prosopis
chilensis (Chilean mesquite), as found growing wild in Southern California
etc. I still haven't quite determined if it will grow easily over here - or
if it's even available in this country.

Al

Jeff Layman wrote in news:jid0rh$302$1
@news.albasani.net:

One alternative is to create a framework for climbers, rather than have
one tree. A single, sturdy, pole with a crossbeam top would allow you
to set the height and spread. One or more evergreen or deciduous
climbers could provide shade and flower at different times of the year.
You could even choose a fruiting climber if you wanted - if your soil
is as poor and chalky as you say, a grapevine wouldn't go amiss.


Thank you for the suggestion; I have to admit I hadn't thought of that. It
is definitely worth considering. Yes, my father grew grape vines locally in
the same type of soil.

Al

Dave Hill wrote in news:08c52ef1-4f02-49b8-
:

Why not go the whole Hog and build a pergola, then a few vines on it
would do the job.

A pergola is what I was thinking too. The only problem is the cost. The
lumber would cost several hundred frogskins, methinks.

Al.

Sacha wrote in :

If something isn't available there's usually a good reason for that!

True. Anyway, I have just ordered some seeds from Arizona. I'll see how it
gets on in a container, initially. The edible beans sound useful.

Al

"AL_n" wrote in
:

Sacha wrote in
:

If something isn't available there's usually a good reason for that!

True. Anyway, I have just ordered some seeds from Arizona. I'll see
how it gets on in a container, initially. The edible beans sound
useful.

PS... Even if they grow in our climate, I don't really think it's the
answer to my needs, due to the size they grow. I'm mainly trying the seeds
out of curiosity. If I can get the seeds to germinate, I may grow one in a
container until it becomes too big to handle.

Jake wrote in
:

I'd suggest you go back to the drawing board and rethink your
specifications a bit.

You may be right. My "plan B" rethink would be to use an even smaller
(dwarf) tree, planted even closer to the house. This would provide the
dappled shade I need for anyone sitting out on the East-facing staging,
immediately in front of the east side of the house. In this case, the tree
should reach a maximum height of 10 feet or so, with a "diameter" (I use
the word loosely), of about 5ft. The foliage should not be too dense, as I
only want dappled shade and still be able to see through it. Evergreen or
deciduous would be fine. If it produces something edible, that's a bonus.
Primarily, it needs to look attractive, and not too common-looking. A
twisty trunk as opposed to a straight one would be good.

Al

On 27/02/2012 15:10, AL_n wrote:
wrote in
:

I'd suggest you go back to the drawing board and rethink your
specifications a bit.

You may be right. My "plan B" rethink would be to use an even smaller
(dwarf) tree, planted even closer to the house. This would provide the
dappled shade I need for anyone sitting out on the East-facing staging,
immediately in front of the east side of the house. In this case, the tree
should reach a maximum height of 10 feet or so, with a "diameter" (I use
the word loosely), of about 5ft. The foliage should not be too dense, as I
only want dappled shade and still be able to see through it. Evergreen or
deciduous would be fine. If it produces something edible, that's a bonus.
Primarily, it needs to look attractive, and not too common-looking. A
twisty trunk as opposed to a straight one would be good.

How about ginko or mulberry then. They both grow *much* larger
eventually but you could keep them down to size as wanted.

Get a male ginko unless you like the nuts (fruit smell awful).

--
Regards,
Martin Brown

Martin Brown wrote in
:

You may be right. My "plan B" rethink would be to use an even smaller
(dwarf) tree, planted even closer to the house. This would provide
the dappled shade I need for anyone sitting out on the East-facing
staging, immediately in front of the east side of the house. In this
case, the tree should reach a maximum height of 10 feet or so, with a
"diameter" (I use the word loosely), of about 5ft. The foliage should
not be too dense, as I only want dappled shade and still be able to
see through it. Evergreen or deciduous would be fine. If it produces
something edible, that's a bonus. Primarily, it needs to look
attractive, and not too common-looking. A twisty trunk as opposed to
a straight one would be good.

How about ginko or mulberry then. They both grow *much* larger
eventually but you could keep them down to size as wanted.

Get a male ginko unless you like the nuts (fruit smell awful).

Thanks for the suggestions. Nice trees, but looking at the photos, they
appear to have too much spread for my new 'plan B' idea. I'd prefer not to
have to impose my desired shape onto a tree that isn't going there
naturally. I guess this limits me to a naturally dwarf tree of some kind.
As I would be planting so close to the house, I don't like the idea of a
massive root system underground, which might be the case with a non-dwarf
tree that's being lopped to size above ground..

Al

"AL_n" wrote in
:


Thanks for the suggestions. Nice trees, but looking at the photos,
they appear to have too much spread for my new 'plan B' idea. I'd
prefer not to have to impose my desired shape onto a tree that isn't
going there naturally. I guess this limits me to a naturally dwarf
tree of some kind. As I would be planting so close to the house, I
don't like the idea of a massive root system underground, which might
be the case with a non-dwarf tree that's being lopped to size above
ground..



PS... something along the lines of this Hosur (or Hosui) Dwarf Pear tree
might suit, going by the photo:

http://tinyurl.com/8xjf798

Al

"AL_n" wrote in news:XnsA006A21554F46zzzzzz@
130.133.4.11:


PS... something along the lines of this Hosur (or Hosui) Dwarf Pear tree
might suit, going by the photo:

http://tinyurl.com/8xjf798

Al


PPS... If all else fails, I might try a large clump of bamboos, along the
lines of these:

http://tinyurl.com/6q6bog9


Al

On 27 Feb 2012 16:09:16 GMT, "AL_n" wrote:

"AL_n" wrote in news:XnsA006A21554F46zzzzzz@
130.133.4.11:


PS... something along the lines of this Hosur (or Hosui) Dwarf Pear tree
might suit, going by the photo:

http://tinyurl.com/8xjf798

Al


PPS... If all else fails, I might try a large clump of bamboos, along the
lines of these:

http://tinyurl.com/6q6bog9


Al
Be careful. Many bamboos are notoriously invasive and you may end up
fighting an annual (if not more frequent) battle to keep them in
check.

Cheers, Jake
=======================================
Urgling happily from the dryer end of Swansea Bay.

In article ,
says...

I wonder if anyone could help me decide on which tree to get for my back
garden. I need something to provide a bit of shade, and give some sense of
shelter, as it's a rather exposed coastal site. The soil is very alkaline
and below the shallow topsoil, is stony clay. The site gets fairly windy,
especially in winter. There is lots of sunshine in Summer. It's in the
South West of England with typically only a few nights of frost each
year.

Plain old hawthorn can make a very beautiful and reliable tree,
interesting all year round ands submits to any amount or pruning and
shaping. If you want to push the boat out get one of the fancier species
with bigger berries, like Crataegus orientalis.

Janet

Jake wrote in
:

Be careful. Many bamboos are notoriously invasive and you may end up
fighting an annual (if not more frequent) battle to keep them in
check.

So probably the clumping variety grown in a b-i-g container then. The
difficult bit seems to be finding one that grows about the right height (10
ft approx) and doesn't mind full sun for most of the day in Summer. My
preferred shape is the palm-like varieties.

One thing I like about about the bamboos is that they are fast growing. Are
there other members of the grass family that I could be looking at
(especially things with overhanging palm-like leaves? It's got to be happy
in salty air, strong winds and full sun, and hardy down to about -4C,
ideally.


Al