Help me find this tree!!!

[Doyouavocado]

I hoping the power of mumsnet can help me find a tree that might not even exist.

I’m looking for an fast growing evergreen mid height tree (tops 14 ft when mature) ideally I would love it to flower but I’m struggling to find one that does. Fast growing is ideal as it’s for privacy and block view of my neighbours seeing though all my windows. I really wanted an evergreen Magnolia but i think they Alhambra a really slow grow rate 😞

Any suggestions?

It's not really possible to buy a fast-growing tree that will stop at 14 feet. You can either buy a large specimen of a small tree that is almost full height, or buy something that will grow quickly but can be pruned (which is often a pain in the arse).

In addition, evergreens tend to be slower than deciduous plants.

You could go for something like a standard photinia red robin (normally a shrub, but can be grown as a tree, but tall ones will be expensive), or you could grow a quick-growing climber up a fence or arch while waiting for other things to grow.

Damn, I had a feeling I wasn’t going to get one haha. Thank you for the response, I do love photinia so that is definitely a good option!

Do you think a crab apple tree would work? I seen one at the garden centre this morning and it was already 6ft and leafy.

Sorry, I know nothing about gardening!

You could look at pleached trees which can form a high hedge but they are not cheap to buy but would provide privacy quickly?

Barcham tree nursery have an encyclopaedic website. They are also really helpful,with email and phone enquiries.

I would go for an amalachier tree. It’s not evergreen but its interesting all year round, it has beautiful red leaves in both spring and autumn, little white star-like flowers in spring, green leaves in summer and red berries in autumn. They grow faster than a magnolia but don’t ever get massive. You can buy them as a bush/shrub shape or as a tree.

Myrtle. Evergreen, creamy scented flowers in summer. I planted one a few years ago and it's a decent height already, in fact I had to prune it this year as it's a bit bigger than I expected.

Crab apples aren’t evergreen. They’re lovely trees, though, with both flowers in summer and fruit in autumn, and don’t get too large

Thank you so much for all your response. I’m off to the garden centre again today and I feel like I have abit more of an idea now!