Purely hypothetically, obviously, if you were going to plant a 100m long double avenue of trees in a field leading to a lake, what would you choose?

[mintydixcharrington]

The idea being that the rest of the field would be planted with parkland specimens (oak, atlas cedar, etc)
I have thoughts (Tilia Cordata, Juglans Nigra but would the nuts be a pain) but would be interested in seeing what the gardeners/landscapers in here suggest

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how about a double row of Lime Tress, A La Clumber Park

Oaks, every time; your great-great-grandchildren will thank you!

So more votes for Lime and Beech, they do look great.
Go on you know you want to.

Hawthorn Perfect for a woodland style feel

aurgh you see, too many choices!
yes I'm worried that it is too long to have just one species, OK if it is up a drive or something but I'm worried it may look a bit odd as a ride

one side of the field has just been planted with a dozen or so horse chestnuts so I won't use them for this.

am going to plant liquidambar and birches around the lake

metre a year on your tulip tree? How old is it? I planted one about 4 years ago, it is doing really well but not a metre a year. more like half that

Limes give off a vile sticky sap which is like nectar to wasps, believe me I know - used to have to throw a bucket of hot soapy water at my car everytime I wanted to get in (and then leap in double quick before the pissed off wasps came back).

there are so many types of oak
I could use different types? 2 quercus robur, then a specimen type, then 2 robur, then another type?

or is that being a bit of a clever dick?

yes you have to choose the type of lime carefully, some of them are horribly sticky, some not at all

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There is nothing wrong with wasps or lime if you are not parking your car near them. Give wildlife a break.

I'd go for horse chestnut. and I'd get some deer to eat the conkers.

Beech is lovely

not keen on the laternating idea - and avenue's an avenue it's mean to be formal isn;t it?

Yes you need a deer park for sure. It has to have deer.

also had to post this link Lyme Park Avenue of trees

London plane - wonderful bark.

gosh isn't that beautiful wizzwotzzapppopwhatsit? they are quite widely spaced which I think is lovely. they must be oaks. that is a brilliant photo, thank you

do deer eat horsechestnuts? we have deer (well, we don't have them, but they visit and rampage nightly)

for all the beech lovers out there - I love beech too. But we really don't have that much around here, which makes me think that it isn't the right thing to plant. Mind you there are lots of beech hedges - but woodland around here is mainly oak and ash and hazel (and historically, elm - this was a big elm area )

Hmmm. I'm now tending towards oak rather than lime...

Another vote for beeches, although poplars could be lovely too, if you wanted something more unusual. We see a line of them in the distance from our windows, and they're always the first trees round here to show life in spring - always gladdens my heart to see them.

yes minty - Bushey Park has signs saying please don't take too many horse conkers because they're essential food for the deer.

another option, for me, would be poplars. Lombardy poplars - or, as my brother called them when he was little, long bloody poplars

great minds, hatwoman . They look gorgeous in the autumn imo.

just seen midnightexpress suggested poplars too. der.

we used to have several in my garden when I was a kid. they were rather nice.

out of interest, why are you asking?

poplars don't do it for me I'm afraid.

why am I asking? just wondered

presumably because she has the fabulous opportunity to enter the Capability Brown stage of her life!