I am redoing by back garden and in the sunny corner at the far end of
the garden (garden is only 40 feet long) I will have a bench across
the corner of the right-angle formed by two fences meeting.

I would like to plant a tree there that will eventually overhang the
bench and give dabbled shade, be interesting to look at, etc.

Prunus serrula has great bark and I believe that if I buy a single
trunked specimen I can then cut it back to about 1 foot of the graft,
seal and it will shoot multiple trunks - is this correct (I would
ideally like three or four like silver birches tend to have).

However whilst reading up on the prunus I came across the Styrax.
This seems to have equally interesting bark, scented flowers, etc.

I don't want anything to get too large (in my time at the house) - so
under 20 feet I would think. Also if it grows so that it is 16 feet
of trunk and then 4 of foliage that is no good either.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

regards

Ed

On 1 Jun 2004 06:37:56 -0700, Ed wrote:

I am redoing by back garden and in the sunny corner at the far end of
the garden (garden is only 40 feet long) I will have a bench across
the corner of the right-angle formed by two fences meeting.

I would like to plant a tree there that will eventually overhang the
bench and give dabbled shade, be interesting to look at, etc.

Given the regularity with which urg hears of conflicts between
neighbors over trees to close to fences, I suggest you tread
somewhat cautiously.


Prunus serrula has great bark and I believe that if I buy a single
trunked specimen I can then cut it back to about 1 foot of the graft,
seal and it will shoot multiple trunks - is this correct (I would
ideally like three or four like silver birches tend to have).

However whilst reading up on the prunus I came across the Styrax.
This seems to have equally interesting bark, scented flowers, etc.

I don't want anything to get too large (in my time at the house) - so
under 20 feet I would think. Also if it grows so that it is 16 feet
of trunk and then 4 of foliage that is no good either.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

I have a couple of styraxes (styraces?)grown from seed that came
to me under the moniker "dwarf form". They're now about fifteen
years old, no more than fifteen feet high, and seem to have
reached their ultimate height: no significant growth upwards for
the last few years. I *think* (but may be mistaken) that these
are definitely smaller than the usual Styrax japonica.

S.j. is an exceptionally beautiful tree even out of flower. The
branching habit gives the appearance of horizontal layers, and
the leaves are small and rather nicely formed. It's a very
pretty, fairly tidy tree. And the flowers are scented!

Drawbacks to S.j. for your purposes: First of all, it's a tree
that likes semi-shade, or so I have been led to understand.
Putting it in full sun may not work all that well. But it is true
that the upper reaches of my two are in full sun all day long and
seem to do quite nicely -- better, in fact, than the shaded lower
branches.

The second drawback is that they are somewhat messy when their
flowers fade and fall. It's easy enough to sweep them away, but
be aware that you *will* need to do so while they are in flower
if you don't want to sit on the dead flowers.

There's a pink-flowered form of S.j. on the market, but I think
it isn't as attractive a plant as the normal white-flowered form.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]

On 1 Jun 2004 06:37:56 -0700, Ed wrote:

I am redoing by back garden and in the sunny corner at the far end of
the garden (garden is only 40 feet long) I will have a bench across
the corner of the right-angle formed by two fences meeting.

I would like to plant a tree there that will eventually overhang the
bench and give dabbled shade, be interesting to look at, etc.

Given the regularity with which urg hears of conflicts between
neighbors over trees to close to fences, I suggest you tread
somewhat cautiously.


Prunus serrula has great bark and I believe that if I buy a single
trunked specimen I can then cut it back to about 1 foot of the graft,
seal and it will shoot multiple trunks - is this correct (I would
ideally like three or four like silver birches tend to have).

However whilst reading up on the prunus I came across the Styrax.
This seems to have equally interesting bark, scented flowers, etc.

I don't want anything to get too large (in my time at the house) - so
under 20 feet I would think. Also if it grows so that it is 16 feet
of trunk and then 4 of foliage that is no good either.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

I have a couple of styraxes (styraces?)grown from seed that came
to me under the moniker "dwarf form". They're now about fifteen
years old, no more than fifteen feet high, and seem to have
reached their ultimate height: no significant growth upwards for
the last few years. I *think* (but may be mistaken) that these
are definitely smaller than the usual Styrax japonica.

S.j. is an exceptionally beautiful tree even out of flower. The
branching habit gives the appearance of horizontal layers, and
the leaves are small and rather nicely formed. It's a very
pretty, fairly tidy tree. And the flowers are scented!

Drawbacks to S.j. for your purposes: First of all, it's a tree
that likes semi-shade, or so I have been led to understand.
Putting it in full sun may not work all that well. But it is true
that the upper reaches of my two are in full sun all day long and
seem to do quite nicely -- better, in fact, than the shaded lower
branches.

The second drawback is that they are somewhat messy when their
flowers fade and fall. It's easy enough to sweep them away, but
be aware that you *will* need to do so while they are in flower
if you don't want to sit on the dead flowers.

There's a pink-flowered form of S.j. on the market, but I think
it isn't as attractive a plant as the normal white-flowered form.


--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
[change "atlantic" to "pacific" and
"invalid" to "net" to reply by email]