Driveway tree

[Cherryblossom200]

Hello!

I'm going to be re-doing my ugly driveway soon, I'm going to shingle it with some bedding areas to soften it all up. I'd love a tree near the house which would end up near my neighbours boundary.

What type of tree would you recommend which is pretty but won't damage my foundations and grow massive!

Thank you x

I've just done exactly this and planted a magnolia with a maximum height of 4 metres.

Fab thanks! X

Salix or magnolia

Do NOT plant a salix near your house! Salix means willow, and they are notorious for breaking into drains and foundations looking for water. Even the pretty little pink ones will be grafted to a big thug willow which will always try to take over (hence getting green shoots from the base).

Flowering cherry?

Flowering cherries have invasive roots too.

I like the pp's idea of a magnolia, or how about a Judas tree?

I'd love a cherry tree, but I do worry about the foundations

I think the magnolia would look beautiful. Do the leaves drop in autumn? x

You can get evergreen magnolia but they're much bigger, about 12 metres I think (I did extensive magnolia research before buying mine! )

Hi OP

Does it have to be a tree? How high are you happy for it to grow? Is your garden sunny or part shaded. The answers to these questions will help eliminate the unsuitable and give a better idea of what you can use. For instance, would a large shrub be ok? How big is the space and do you need something more upright than spreading? It’s a pain having to get rid of something that doesn’t fit later down the line.

It's full sun in the morning during spring/summer and autumn.

It'll be a big enough space for a large shrub, smaller tree.

I'd like something which looks pretty and elegant. My drive is so god dam ugly at the moment, I can't wait to make it look greener. That's the of the reason I'm putting shingle to soften the whole concrete jungle up!

Height wise I'd like it to be 3/4 metres high, in terms of spread I guess I can always trim it to keep it from getting too wide? But no longer than 2/3 metres wide x

Elegant probably means smaller leaves so they’re not flappy. Arbutus eventual height probably too big. Weeping cotoneaster too small! Camellia maybe not dainty enough, Ceaothus maybe? Have a good look online to see what a fully grown one looks like. Be careful though; there are other varieties of these which won’t be suitable because of height, position etc.

Thank you x

Magnolias and lilacs were once very common in urban front gardens.

I sadly lost a winter flowering cherry (Autumnalis) the roots of which were much less invasive than a neighbouring spring double flowered and very tall tree. I am thinking of replacing it with a Spindle tree.

Also one other question, on one side of the drive will be flowers/small shrubs. On the other is a smallish brick wall, my neighbour has a massive transit black van. I was thinking of planting laurels or something on that side. I don't want them to get massive, but I was thinking of keeping them a metre and a half height just to not have to see this massive van all the time. But I'm also open to alternative screening ideas?

Hi OP

Is it sunny? Rosemary.

If part sun/shade, how about Rosa Rugosa? Your preferred height I think.

Or Pittosporum Variegatum. Bit bigger but might do.

Or my favourite, Escallonia. White, red or pink flowers.

All evergreen except Rosa in hard weather.

Laurel gets v big ime.
did you mean a hedge?
photinia is nice - but I’m in Scotland and it has nt grown very big but down south it can make a smalltree

Thanks everyone!

Yes one side will be for screening, I think the photinia might be better as I've read the roots aren't so deep.

@SerenStarEtoile’s suggestions are bushes rather than trees, foliage down to the ground rather than having a trunk.

It’s hard work to keep a Laurel small, but they do use it for hedges. We use a fig tree to screen neighbour’s van. Bay another possibility - they can grow huge but can be kept small.

For the tree, a weeping crab might be a possibility. My 30 year old one is still only about 3m high although it is quite wide.

Garrya elliptica
Corkscrew hazel
Viburnum plicatum mariesii