Does anyone have any tree ideas, for planting near to the house?

[NoPsipsinaChocolateOrange]

I'm hoping to give our garden some privacy, at the moment it has none - but this would mean putting in something reasonably tall, reasonably close to the house.

I'm not sure what to put there - obviously it has to be something that hasn't got a scary root system that will cause subsidence or block the drains - but it also has to have some height.

Is there anything that might be suitable?

Bamboo can grow tall but you need t research different types as some have spreading root systems and some don't! We have a non spreading variety (sorry can't remember name) which grows up to about 10 ft and provides screening but is swishy and doesn't shade the garden.

Oh, thank you! Next door already has bamboo there and it is trying to plant itself in our garden too, which I wish it wouldn't

I think I will have to google for distances away from the house to plant things and go from there.

A lot of councils have lists of varieties suitable for suburban streets and gardens - often they use them on streets.

Don't do bamboo unless you have concrete around it!! We put some in but I worry about it

Mimosa trees are beautiful and don't get massive- lovely yellow flowers in March.

Our neighbours have Loquats in urban font garden - which flower and fruit, or how about apple with your chosen root stock according to desired size

How tall do you want - 3 m, 5 m or taller?

How wide ?

Back or front garden ?

Deciduous or evergreen ?

What soil do you have ? Aspect ?

It is cold, windy, frosty ?

Where do you live ?

Oh I was going to ask this, we have a large front garden just laid to lawn just now, it's boring and I would like a large tree in the centre of it but it would be about 7m from the front of the house and there's drains in the garden too.

We have the most horrendous clay soil which never drains. The front garden is west facing too.

I was thinking conifer?

Here you go guide to trees and distance from house

I would go for a crab apple (Malus), they are so pretty in bloom. We had a lovely one called "Everest" which was sacrificed to building an extension . Good for bees and birds too.

Thanks for that, it's really interesting especially as our soil is heavy clay.

I'm worried about our neighbours tree it's about 3m from the back of our new extension and less than 3m from their house too, it's a plum tree, really lovely but it's getting big now height of first floor window.

Also due to the soil our foundations are 2m deep (normal is 600mm).

If you plant a tree in a lawn, you need to leave a circle of a meter ( at least ) in diameter around the trunk with no grass - cover it with chipped bark or another mulch if you like . Because

• your baby tree can't compete with grass forfood and water
• the roots are mostly near the surface and vulnerable to damage
• the trunk is less likely to be damaged when you cut the grass

For a feature tree, I'd want at least two seasons of interest . Eg flowers or pretty foliage in the spring and good autumn colour /berries

If you live in a city , you might need a tree that tolerates pollution

Evergree conifers cast a lot of shade , so you need to be careful

If you go for deciduous , remember it will be bare for quite a large part of the year, so think about the form ( what the tree looks like naked ) eg cherries are very pretty for two weeks of the year but can be lacking interest for the other 50 ( unless you get one with great bark)

Some trees have a very dense canopy and cast a lot of shade , others less so

I have a very exposed garden ,so I've planted very tough trees eg sorbus, betula ( birch ) , malus ( crab apple ) , crataegus ( hawthorn ) , yew, holly , etc . In a city you have a lot more choice .

Remeber that a " very small " tree is 5-10 m . A small tree might be 10-15 m. Check that you actually know what a 10 m tree woudl look like in the position want it . Check that you have enough width for the tree you want

L ots of very small town gardens would be better off with a large shrub

Kitty - I woudont work about the plum tree , they don't get big , not much more that 3- 4 m . I've a very old plum tree ( probably nearly 100 years ) and it's only about 3m ( still fruits very well )

My magnolia is great as it has a wonderful dense canopy when in leaf. However, it is also quite old so has taken a while to get to this stage.

Magnolia Stellata flowers when it's quite young . I have one that has been flowering since I bought it , it's about 1,5 m high ( so a medium shrub ) .

It's not very exciting the rest of the year so a I grow a clematis up it

Yes I am going to leave a circle around it thanks

So what do you think would be the best idea tree wise, the garden is just open plain lawn quite big and boring, I've got some shrubs to make a border at the far end but would like a feature tree in the middle?

Heavy clay soil
West facing
Exposed site

Tree roots don't normally interfere with drains unless there is already damage when they will be attracted by leaking water.

Amelanchier has attractive foliage and lovely blossom in the spring

What about an amelancheir ? Pretty shape, colourful new foliage, flowers in spring and autumn colour

Malus Everest ( which a PP mentioned ) is a nice tidy shape, spring flowers, fruit , autumn colour

Malus red sentinel is narrower and has red leaves

A smaller Sorbus like S vilmorinii

They are all very hardy . Lots of pretty trees don't like cold winds , as I know to my cost eg cercidiphylum , glenditsia

If you like weeping trees, there's pyrus salicifolia pendula

Sorry didn't refresh page, I see that air cooled has mentioned amelanchier

I am about to buy an Amelanchier, that seems like a great choice - white blossom in spring, then orange leaves, then they turn green, then red in the Autumn.

A sort of but not quite thread-jack - can anyone recommend where to buy from? our local biggest garden centre has a very sorry looking one that I suspect has been in the same pot since it was planted as a twig and its now 6 foot. Other than that, am I looking at mail order? (huge cheek but assume the OP will need advice on where to buy her lovely new tree too *bats eyelids and looks appealingly at OP)!!

I buy mine root balled (RB) from a tree nursery . But it's too late in the season now to do that, you will need to buy one that's grown in a pot ( CG) .

Better to see if you have a nursery within reasonable travelling distamce . Mail order is expensive because of the carriage and you want to check the shape of your tree before purchase .

Single stemmed trees are usually sold by girth - the measurement around the trunk 1m up. So you'll see

Betula jacquemontii CG G10-12 - that's container grown , 10-12 cm girth

Multi stemmed trees are sold by height eg H200-300 ( that's cm again )

Another problem with mail order is they often sell by the size of the pot eg 10litre . So you have no idea how old or big the tree is

Some tree nurseries will send you a photo of the actual tree you are buying

Remember trees grow tall and skinny and fill out , the stem gets thicker and the head gets wider and bushier ( I'm sure there's a more technical way of explaining this )

Thank you Stacey that is handy information. I think we will need to find a nursery to sell us one in a pot.

Tree nurseries ( or any other nursery that has field grown plants ) will only lift in the autumn / winter . So anything they are selling now will be in pots

It depends on your budget and ambitions . If you have a tree nusery in your county or nearby , you could probably get a medium amelanchier for about 150 - 200 plus 50 delivery . You woudl need Several people to unload it and plant it But that woudl be a big feature in your garden .

If you plant something that big it needs well staked . Underground guying is invisible but costs . Otherwise you need at least 3 large stakes to stay in for about 18 months .

At the other end of the scale, ive just bought a multi stemmed CG amelanchier ,about 1.5 m, in my local nusery for £50 . I could easily lift it on my own and it fitted in the car .

I bought two rootballed ones in the winter ( same price ) and it took 3 men to lift it . ( Once they were planted I decided I wanted another , but it was too late .)

But they are more like large shrubs in the middle of a bed in my back garden . But if you have a tiny front garden in the town , they might be the size you need .

HTH

Many thanks - I think its the 1.5m one I need so I am ringing round garden centres, most nurseries here only sell to trade so that size would cost about £65 retail but it sounds like what I want - a Lamarckii. Our garden is large so size not an issue.