Hi,
Is this a good time to plant trees? . We were thinking fast growing trees
..... in the north east Scotland .. to protect from the wind. Leylandii?

Sure you can, providing the ground isn't frozen.

Obviously the middle of winter is not at all the ideal time to plant
anything. But if you have your heart set on it, nobody can stop you.


"Basset" wrote in message
...
Hi,
Is this a good time to plant trees? . We were thinking fast growing trees
.... in the north east Scotland .. to protect from the wind. Leylandii?

"Basset" wrote
Is this a good time to plant trees? . We were thinking fast growing trees
.... in the north east Scotland .. to protect from the wind. Leylandii?

I understand from talking to a tree expert years ago that Leylandii is not a
good windbreak tree as it suffers wind burn (especially if it gets any salt
spray) in exposed sites, may I suggest you contact the Forestry Commission
or similar for a suitable tree for your area.
Italian Alder is a good one down south but I don't know it's hardiness in
your area.

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

october is thought to be the best month to plant trees because theres still enough warmth in the soil and strength in the sunlight to allow some root growth before dormancy sets in...i would wait until after the second week of february now that winter is almost upon us...with newly planted evergreens depending on how hard the winter is you can lose them due to frozen soil ,the plants not having shed leaves still lose water but are unable to uptake from frozen ground.

yes you do get fast growth from leylandii but would nt it be nicer to use native plants?...have you considered Holly if the wind-break needs to be evergreen..??

In article , Eyebright
writes


october is thought to be the best month to plant trees because theres
still enough warmth in the soil and strength in the sunlight to allow
some root growth before dormancy sets in...i would wait until after the
second week of february now that winter is almost upon us...with newly
planted evergreens depending on how hard the winter is you can lose
them due to frozen soil ,the plants not having shed leaves still lose
water but are unable to uptake from frozen ground.

yes you do get fast growth from leylandii but would nt it be nicer to
use native plants?...have you considered Holly if the wind-break needs
to be evergreen..??

Is holly actually any use as a windbreak? It is a shade tolerant tree,
quite happy growing in the shelter of other trees, which suggests to me
that it wouldn't flourish in windswept conditions, let alone in
windswept conditions in NE Scotland.

It is also quite slow to establish.

--
Eyebright

--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Basset" wrote in message
...
Hi,
Is this a good time to plant trees? . We were thinking fast growing trees
.... in the north east Scotland .. to protect from the wind. Leylandii?


If you plant Leylandi I presume you are prepared for the maintenance and
that you have no neighbours to upset

On Thu, 16 Dec 2004 21:57:16 -0000, "Basset" wrote:

Hi,
Is this a good time to plant trees? . We were thinking fast growing trees
.... in the north east Scotland .. to protect from the wind. Leylandii?


Deciduous trees are fine, I'd leave evergreens 'til the worst of your
winter has passed. Where in N E Scotland? - Coastal? - or how high? -
what kind of exposure? Soil etc?
Advice for your area will not be the same one size fits all advice
that might suit most of lowland UK.
Rod

Weed my address to reply

http://website.lineone.net/~rodcraddock/index.html

About the planting time question in the first post...

Winter is not far different than fall.

Fall is the major root growth period. Had you planted then, the roots would already be growing out from the root ball a little.

But, realize this - why wouldn't a tree do as well in the ground now, as it would just sitting in a nursery?

Now is better than spring in at least one way. If you plant in the winter, the rain (if you get winter rain) will settle the soil nicely after you have planted.

Also, mulch can be helpful to prevent rain drops from compacting the soil surface (which it can do).

Feel free to read this page on root care where I compiled various resources together in a condensed form:

http://www.mdvaden.com/tree-root-feeding.shtml

In article , mdvaden mdvaden.1h
writes

About the planting time question in the first post...

Winter is not far different than fall.

Fall is the major root growth period. Had you planted then, the roots
would already be growing out from the root ball a little.

But, realize this - why wouldn't a tree do as well in the ground now,
as it would just sitting in a nursery?

Now is better than spring in at least one way. If you plant in the
winter, the rain (if you get winter rain) will settle the soil nicely
after you have planted.

Also, mulch can be helpful to prevent rain drops from compacting the
soil surface (which it can do).

Feel free to read this page on root care where I compiled various
resources together in a condensed form:

http://tinyurl.com/3rzgu

Phrases such as

Winter is not far different than fall.

and

if you get winter rain

suggest you are not posting from the UK. It is helpful to make this
explicit when posting to a group about gardening in the UK because our
conditions here may be different, and advice which is appropriate for
you may not be appropriate here.
--
Kay
"Do not insult the crocodile until you have crossed the river"

"Bob Hobden" wrote in reply to
"Basset" wrote
Is this a good time to plant trees? . We were thinking fast growing trees
.... in the north east Scotland .. to protect from the wind. Leylandii?

I understand from talking to a tree expert years ago that Leylandii is not
a good windbreak tree as it suffers wind burn (especially if it gets any
salt spray) in exposed sites, may I suggest you contact the Forestry
Commission or similar for a suitable tree for your area.
Italian Alder is a good one down south but I don't know it's hardiness in
your area.


Found this site which has lots of information for you.

http://www.gcnursery.co.uk/windbreak.html

--
Regards
Bob
In Runnymede, 17 miles West of London

Is this a good time to plant trees?
Well, a wise old bird once suggested that late February was a better
time, as it means that the retailler takes the risk of it dying rather
than the customer...

I have done landscape and pruning work for people from the UK. They said our climate has many similarities. Our area has a dryer summer, but here, where you are at, plus Canada, Ireland, France, Germany, etc., experience the major root growth of the year in fall and early winter.