Putting really large trees in a medium sized garden

[PippaHotamus]

Has anyone got any thoughts about this?

Our garden is about 60ft. It backs onto what is currently a playing field though of course may not be for ever.

We have little privacy and I'd like to improve it - I want a crowded, verdant garden, as much as I can in the space we have.

I've planted quite a few trees since we moved in (there was basically nothing established except a privet bush)

Mainly things like apple, crab apple, a birch, a hawthorn and a cercis canadensis which might reach about 9 metres maximum.

I've done something a bit silly and come home from the nursery in a daydream, with a tree which will possibly reach 15 metres, which is about 50ft. (eventually!)

I can't take it back, I already changed my mind once, but I am worried that putting it in our garden isn't going towork - or won't be fair on it?

I hate cutting down happy trees and would hate to have to move it in a few years.

I'm not sure if we need to worry about the roots or not. There is a smallish building about 30ft from the garden which has mains drainage and I don't know if it might affect that.

The tree will be planted 50-odd feet from our house so I think that's Ok.

Are there any potential pitfalls I'm missing?

Also I'm sorry if I come across as a bit thick, I'm not thinking very clearly and am getting in a tiz about it all, which is daft.

But I do genuinely love trees and have studied horticulture, and the thought of trying to prune a davidia into a hedge never crossed my mind, honestly That is further along and on its own.

By hedge I meant, well, something like this, with the other trees.

Had a thought - I might see if the local horticultural college wants it. I studied with them and you never know, they have a bit of space so might be interested.

Awwww, I feel bad that we are all giving you a hard time. Because I know exactly how you feel. I have actually cried at not being able to fit larger plants in my garden. I just wanted them so much I was willing to bend all the rules to try to justify it. Fortunately, my DH is extremely calm and experienced at dealing with my irrationality around plants.

I'm just going to lay a few considerations out here, and you can have a think. They are all really obvious things, and I am sure they have all occurred to you especially as you really do sound like you know what you're doing! But maybe having them laid out might help you to make this tough decision at an emotional level?

Hedging - hawthorn and crab apple should work well for you as a boundary hedge, esp if you need a bit of security. I really love both, and so will the birds and the insects. (Didn't Zebra do an amazing plant identification of a crab apple hedge on a recent thread?)

Other boundaries - I can see your idea of putting trees sparsely along a boundary, and I think this could really work for you with the right trees provided you don't lose too much light and enjoy shade plants! However, note that in your picture all of those trees that are along the boundary are really very small and very loose canopied - in many ways, it's a textbook example of what you can achieve with restricted height. I imagine they are either small-scale varieties (or on less vigorous rootstocks) or that the intention is to take them out once they become oversized and replace. I notice that one has been pollarded, which would help restrict height for a few years! With trees that grow enormous, that 'look' would be extremely different!

Bear in mind that it's not just height but spread with trees. One of the things about a Davidia is that it's high AND very broad esp at the base (a bit like my dream Cornus) so you will lose a lot of light in both those dimensions! If you prune it back, you will destroy one of its beauties, which is its spreading habit. However, you can get tree varieties that are much less spreading - classic examples might be things like the columnar Japanese cherries, or trees that you can keep in a narrower shape - my Dad has a huge bay tree pruned like this, which he grew from a tiny cutting! This could give you a more punctuated kind of height just where you need it to screen out that tower block, without shading everything. As you know, sometimes, you can screen more effectively with one thing that is well placed than loads of plants.

Fruit trees, and especially apples like a big open shape. I had problems with my vigorous Bramley (which I think dates back to the 1920s) - I made the mistake of pruning it back hard, it responded by growing watershoots like crazy, got really congested and then all kinds of fungal issues took hold because there wasn't enough air movement, and the abundance of leaves was causing water stress. I'm pruning quite a lot of wood out every year until I get that ye olde worlde tree orchard openness - like a bowl! The trouble is, that openness that an apple needs doesn't necessarily give the kind of screen you are after - it will draw the eye, certainly, but you should be able to see a bit through it, even in full leaf. If it's privacy you are after, then, apple trees might not be the best. An alternative plan would be to fan train, cordon train or espalier them into shapes on a boundary where sightlines are less critical.

If you can harden your heart to plant larger trees and them replace them all kinds of design options open to you - I can't remember if I said this upthread, but people use those gorgeous pure white-stemmed silver birches (look at betula jacquemontii) this way, and it looks just stunning. The white trunks really glimmer in a dark corner, but they do fade after a few years and will need to be replaced.

Oh you haven't given me a hard time at all! And irrational is exactly the right word. Sometimes I really can't trust myself - I think it's hormones. I end up with all sorts of things going on that I can't really cope with and then have no idea what to do about it.

Thank you for your excellent suggestions. I can see what you mean about the spreading habit with the Davidia and have been searching images, in the hope that it doesn't have to spread right at the base - I found a couple that look happy with a more rounded/standard shape. So maybe, maybe it will be alright...? I don't know.

I've just spoken to the horticultural college and they are going to get back to me.
Normally I never prune anything much, unless it's actually in the way like a shrub growing over a path. I like things to be themselves so would not feel comfortable pruning a tree like this.

At the moment it is really small and all the branches are pointing upwards.
So I'm not sure how it's going to go, but this is what I'm thinking - just enough clearance to get above the shed, and fence, basically, then it can do what it wants to

I may be being extremely optimistic though!

I really appreciate all your thoughts on the other trees too.