Plant id: what's this tree?

[ifIwerenotanandroid]

Is it a beech? It arrived some years ago & now it's about 3 foot high.

Looks more like hornbeam - the leaves of both are very similar. My hornbeam has leaves already, the beech hasn't come out yet.

Is it a viburnum?

Thanks, both. The new leaves are a bit sticky, if that helps.

Not beech. Beech leaves are wider (oval, not the elongated pointed shape) and not quite so definitely toothed. Hornbeam looks good.

Not Viburnum - the Viburnum in the picture again has wider leaves.

so if it arrived some years ago, does it have flowers? berries? particular colour in autumn?
Any more information?

It is a hornbeam.

I'm working in a really old coppicing wood atm which has a big, ancient hornbeam. It's thought it was planted there (it's the only one) to ward off evil.

No more info, sorry. It's basically a couple of big sticks with a few leaves on, & it gets a bit taller each year. No idea where it came from as we're close to lots of trees but nothing that looks like this.

Hornbeam has winged seeds so it would have probably blown into your garden from somewhere.

Thanks, I'll check out hornbeams. Can they be moved? It's growing right next to a Scots Pine, but that may have to come down as bits of it are dying off & we've lost some of it already. Maybe we could leave the hornbeam there to take over.

I like the idea of it warding off evil: who doesn't need that?

Scots pines have apical dominance and do lose lower branches as they grow. They will lose needles too. Although they are evergreen they shed the oldest needles every year. How big is it?

You can move hornbeams yes, but you can also prune them to the shape you want and have them as a bush - they are used as hedging and respond well.

It's taller than a two-storey house & more than 35 years old.

more than 35 years old. So a baby then. (According to the Woodland Trust, they can grow to 700 years old)

One of mine is estimated at about 70 years old and is around 2 feet high.

@yamadori

One of mine is estimated at about 70 years old and is around 2 feet high.

Yes, but you torture yours by binding their feet

And yes! I know it’s a perfectly natural process - I’ve seen enough stunted row and in cracks in cliff faces

@MereDintofPandiculation Yes it is basically the same principle as a rocky crevice, but we use a pot to achieve the same ends. The roots are regularly pruned when repotting; they then develop thousands of small sideways feeder roots in a small space rather than a few downwards-growing long ones. The tree adapts to life in a container and miniaturises itself.

Rowan, of course, not row and. Damned tablet insists on breaking down unfamiliar words into short one that it recognises, and its botanical knowledge is sadly lacking. Nor does it learn like my old mobile phone did - my phone had learnt Portuguese within a few exchanges with my teacher.

Hornbeams get really big! This is the one next to my garden. It's a lovely tree.

I love your garden.

Thank you @ifIwerenotanandroid

18 months on, the tree is a lot bigger & has fruited (?). Is this a hornbeam?

That's a sweet chestnut by the look of things.

Looks like a chestnut to me!

Thanks, both!