Can I grow sorbus aucuparia in a pot?

[AlmostGreenFingers]

MIL has very kindly gifted us a sorbus aucuparia but I have googled it and it’s a full on tree! Which would be amazing but our garden is mid terrace postage stamp size 😁

Can I put it, and keep it, in a pot?

Apparently it can grow to a 7m spread… our garden is about 4.5m across 😂

In theory, you can grow almost anything in a pot, if the pot is big enough. I personally wouldn't want to repot a rowan tree when the time comes, but if you don't try then you won't know.

If it's quite small at the moment then it should be fine for a while. Then if it becomes a problem you can deal with it.

Maybe you could treat it somewhat like a bonsai?

Yes, you can treat it as a bonsai, or in a bigger pot as a “pseudo-bonsai” . I have one which has been in a pot about 10 years and has now started flowering and producing berries each year.

Rowan is a tree of the uplands and used to growing rock crevice with restricted roots

That’s brilliant, a large bonsai it is! Thank you so much 😊

Rowan is a tree of the uplands and used to growing rock crevice with restricted roots

Or sometimes, out of another tree!

IME the main thing with trees or shrubs in pots is to ensure they don't get too top heavy and get blown over, but Sorbus isn't as heavy leaved as some.

How big is this actual tree she's giving you- how tall is it now?

Yes you can grow rowans as bonsai trees, but there are limits!! They can be grown in a large garden pot, and can be pruned if you do it carefully and don't spoil its shape.

I’ve just checked and it’s 1m tall…

Put it in a decent sized pot, once it fills the pots with roots it's growth will slow a lot.

My 10 year old is still only 0.5m and isn't putting much growth on. BUt it has gorgeous autumn colour, and each year it has a bunch of blossom followed by some berries.

IME the main thing with trees or shrubs in pots is to ensure they don't get too top heavy and get blown over I've got a group of scots pine which regularly do that. They're about two feet high in about three inches of soil, and they seem to spend half their life on their side or upside down.

Reading with interest - I'd love a rowan and I am aware there isn't an infinite amount of space in my garden; how do you look after your small rowan, @MereDintofPandiculation? How do you feed it/what compost is it in? I really like the idea of a small one.

I don’t really look after it! I repot it every year into the same size pot, trimming back the roots slightly in an amateurish way, used to use New Horizon peat free, now that’s not available I use my own garden compost. I put some slow release fertiliser pellets on somewhere during the year. But if they can grow in a debris filled crevice in rock, I think they are pretty tough. I may prune it a bit each year. I don’t go full-on bonsai, it’s currently in a 6inch 3/4 pot. Sometime in the past I managed to get it growing over a stone, which it seems to have lost, so now it has an attractive network of roots above ground level, with the trunk starting 2 inches above ground level - I think I must have done that by slipping the stone in below soil level and gradually reducing the soil level. (I really hope yamadori isn’t reading this!)