A hardy tree

[magpiecounter]

Hi,

I am looking for a tree we can put in our garden when we move house. I need it to have certain elements though and I'm not great at knowing what to search for:

It will need to be big enough to put fairy lights on once a year.
It will need to be hardy enough that it can do ok in a west facing back garden.
I need to hang ornaments (small ones) on it that will grow in number each year
I would like it to be quite pretty
If possible to grow well
I don't mind how tall it grows or how big it gets.

How do I go about finding one? I'd asked at the garden centre but the lad was a bit confused. We won't be moving till next year 2021 but if I start researching now I can start saving too.

Background: we lost our baby boy Cillín on the 23rd December 2020 and I won't be able to take part of him home. The hospital will cremate him and lay him in the baby garden at the cemetery. So I need something at home to have that is his. I want to put soft lights (fairy lights only) on it November 5th till December 28th each year to mark each day we carried him and loved him. I want to hang one decoration every Christmas Eve for him to eventually mark each of his Christmas days. I want to put a hanging decoration on each year on my birthday as we would have shared a birthday had he been born. Even if I tie a ribbon though that would be fine.

I need this tree to be my baby in some form I can keep. It's not fair what has happened but I need something beautiful for him.

Some kind of Acer? We’re not knowledgeable or attentive gardeners but we’ve managed not to kill the one that was in our garden when we came here 20+ years ago. It has lovely red leaves, but would be bare in December, if that matters. Ours is around 6 feet tall and gets prunes every few years..

Pruned not prunes.

@Chemenger I actually read it as pruned. I think random prunes would put me off. Thank you for the advice and the smile. X

Would you like an evergreen or deciduous recommendation, OP?
It's a beautiful tribute to your beloved baby.

A mountain ash ?

I was thinking... an ornamental cherry tree. The blossoms would add another dimension of hope and beauty, being that the tree is dedicated to your son. And while it would be bare in winter, fairy lights on a bare tree in December look beautiful and it's easy to hang ornaments from a bare tree. My neighbours do this with a tree in their front garden and it's wonderful at Christmastime.

I have seen a variety of prunus in flower at the moment. Tiny pink flowers. Can you walk your neighbourhood and see if you can spot one? A large Victoria park might have one.

Victorian

Our neighbours have a beautiful winter flowering cherry which is covered in blossom at the moment.

We bought a dove tree to remember our loss which is lovely but probably not quite what you are looking for as it's eventual size is quite big www.gardeningknowhow.com/ornamental/trees/dove-tree/dove-tree-growing.htm
How about a small fruit tree or flowering cherry or if it's sheltered enough a magnolia.
The RHS have a guide for garden trees here www.rhs.org.uk/advice/beginners-guide/planting/trees-for-smaller-gardens - if you also check out their plant guide which has filters for size, location type.
You can search also trees by size and conditions (west facing) on www.crocus.co.uk or try someone like treesdirect who have an advice line
Check the eventual size of anything you buy and bear that in mind when you position it in relation to your house

Hello op, have a look at ornamental-trees.co.uk and perhaps choose a flowering cherry? These tend not to get too big and therefore would be easier to decorate. This is a good company that I have used before. Pick something with an RHS stamp as this means it has been tested and approved as a good/sturdy plant. I don’t know how much you know about gardening but keeping watering for a year after planting is a good idea while it establishes. West facing is ideal, so shouldn’t limit your choice at all.
I’m sorry about your loss, I was in a similar position at Christmas a number of years ago and it’s terribly hard walking out of the hospital with nothing tangible. Be kind to yourself, time is a great healer

I am so sorry for your loss. I think the cherry tree suggestions are lovely and appropriate. The Tibetan cherry tree has beautiful russet bark which would add another layer of loveliness to Cillan’s tree. So you would see spring blossom, summer leaves, autumn colour from the changing leaves, and then the bark, your memory gifts and lights in the winter months.

I am sorry I spelled his name wrong, Cillin.

@viques

I am sorry I spelled his name wrong, Cillin.

@viques please don't worry. The family is Irish and we would have had a lifetime of everyone spelling it wrong. Our surname is always spelt or pronounced wrong anyway.

Thank you for your suggestion. I think from this post the cherry blossom tree is the most popular recommended tree. I think I've seen the pink trees in the park so I'll look into one.

A Himalayan birch is an elegant, upright form of birch with beautiful white bark. It's deciduous and I think it looks gorgeous covered in fairy lights (my neighbours have one and have done this).

It depends whether the prettiness is the prime requirement or the displaying of Christmas lights and decorations. Apart from being evergreen there's another good reason why we decorate fir trees - they have neatly aligned straight branches rather than curved and twisted branches with lots of overlapping twigs. If you were going the conifer route I'd go for either Araucaria - which will look architectural rather than pretty - or Korean fir Abies koreana which is remarkable among fir trees for bearing (beautiful blue) cones at a very young age.

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions. As callous as it sounds I need a project to focus on for my baby boy. He needs something pretty even for a boy.

@magpiecounter

Thank you everyone for your help and suggestions. As callous as it sounds I need a project to focus on for my baby boy. He needs something pretty even for a boy.

That doesn't sound callous at all

I may (will) be in the minority here as they are not in fashion at the moment but what about a lilac. I have a standard one that doesn’t need any pruning really, it’s deciduous so you have bare branches in winter to decorate, then within a couple of months you will have the most gorgeous scented blooms. Very early flowering giving beautiful colour while the rest of the garden is still waking up.

Crab apple. It will look beautiful in December with its tiny baby apples. If you leave the crab apples they drop and turn about squidgy then the birds will eat them. The blossom in the spring is gorgeous and it has good autumn colour.

www.rhs.org.uk/plants/45895/Malus-x-robusta-Red-Sentinel/Details

@YellowHighlighterPen

I have seen a variety of prunus in flower at the moment. Tiny pink flowers. Can you walk your neighbourhood and see if you can spot one? A large Victoria park might have one.

That will be prunus autumnalis, a variety of cherry which flowers in winter.

Prunus x subhirtella "Autumnalis", also Prunus x subhirtella "Autumnalis Rosea" Usually listed under Prunus subhirtella Autumnalis rather than simply Prunus autumnalis. - I'm not just trying to be pedantic

(The "x" indicates that it's thought to be a hybrid - it originated from Japan but is unknown in the wild. And the particular variety that flowers through the winter is Autumnalis. or Autumnalis Rosea with slightly pinker flowers.)

Would it be better to stick with a tree that you can keep in a container, in case you have to.move again? Such as kojo no mai, the Fuji cherry, or a small Acer?

www.rhs.org.uk/Plants/70924/prunus-incisa-kojo-no-mai-/Details

Mountain ash - lovely shaped leaves and blossom and berries for the birds. I also love my flowering cherry. Neither of these get too big. I have all sorts of lanterns and fairy lights on mine plus bird feeders. They are very hardy.

What a lovely idea OP. I second the idea of a Tibetan cherry- the bark is incredibly beautiful, which means it has interest all year round, and it will grow into a very classic tree shape.

If you are in Yorkshire, can I recommend R V Rogers near Pickering? They are extremely knowledgable and in addition to a vast array of trees, have many many beautiful and unusual roses - I treat myself to a couple each year! I'm not certain, where they deliver to, but we are near York and they have brought stuff to us a few times.