Tree recommendations please

[dick27]

I'm a seasoned gardener, but I've only ever bought 2 trees.
I'm sick of trying and failing to achieve shade in an area of paving. So I've decided I want a tree, in a pot. I reckon one that grows to 4 metres, and is happy in a pot. It needs to provide shade, so needs to spread outwards too. It needs to be wind proof as I'm in a very windy spot, in the north. I LOVE weeping willows but the dwarf variety I've found doesn't grow tall enough. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

You will need a very big pot for your tree to grow to 4m. How about a crab apple or a fig? But don’t plant until it is cooler in the autumn.

You would need a truly massive pot to keep a 4m tree upright in a strong wind.

It would have to lose its leaves over the winter or the wind will tip it over. As PP mentioned the size of pot needed to grow a tree that big will be huge and £££.

Here’s what the Royal Horticultural Society advise RHS

As everyone has said, the combo of 4m tall, pot, and a windy spot will be tricky. Was going to suggest a fig too as presumably you won't need shade in winter. Is the paving large slabs/flagstones? Figs love (and fruit much more with) root restriction so if you could remove some to create a couple of feet square, dig down and use the slabs to 'line' the cube hole, and plant in there, it'd be fabulous. Google 'fig pit'. Think I've just talked myself into doing this!

How big a pot can you manage? Can you do one of those big square pots that gets anchored to the ground? There is a beautiful paperbark maple in a pot like that in a botanic garden near me. The pot itself provides at least a meter of the height though, and I wouldn't say it provides all that much shade.

Thanks everyone. I've measured 4 metres today and think I may have been very deluded! 3 metres seems to be a much better option. The shade aspect is most important so it needs to branch out. I hadn't considered that it would need to lose its leaves for winter stablility so I've added that to my criteria. The paved area is fairly large so I can go large with a pot (but the £££s might be offputting). Digging it up and going into the earth would be a last resort as it would need a pneumatic drill to get through the concrete under the paving.

I'm currently looking at a forest pansy, which seems to fit all my criteria

I have a tree in a pot for providing shade on the patio.
It's a little under 3 meters tall from the base of the trunk. It works well at this height to give plenty of shade. The canopy is not particularly wide-spreading but it still provides a good amount of shade.

A few tips.
Buy a very big pot - not plastic as it will tip over eventually. They are rather pricey, so if that's a consideration look for one when garden centres are selling off their stock in late summer at a discount. Mine is weighed down at the base with some large pebbles, and gravel. I also have a few bags of sand behind the shed that I can bring out to place around the base of the pot if needed for extra stability.
If there is a border near to the spot you want the tree where you can insert a stake into the ground - or more than one - tie the tree onto that in winter or in particularly windy weather, as well as having a support stake in the pot. Or a fence post nearby if it's robust enough.
Trees in pots need a lot more watering than you might anticipate.

Suggestions for the type of tree:
Amelanchier lamarckii (Snowy Mespilus) is known to be wind resistant. It can be bought on a grafted root stock meaning you can predict and select the probable height, and choose either a single stem or multi stem.

Hawthorn - there are several varieties with white or pink flowers.
If you can cope with the thorns when pruning, it copes well on a windy site, it's very tough and can be restricted to a single stem and shaped to the desired height and width. If you have a limited budget and the patience to wait for it to grow it can be bought very cheaply as hawthorn hedging whips - just look for a specimen with a clear strong stem, and trim the rest away. Grown as a specimen tree it looks much more attractive than the wild hedging, and provides year round interest.

Just a note about Forest Pansy. It's known to be somewhat brittle and susceptible to wind damage, especially when young. It likes a sheltered spot (worth giving it a go if you like it, perhaps). It does prefer dappled shade but it can be grown in full sun.

You could drill a couple of big bolts into the place where the pot is going to go and use them to anchor it, it's not a big job (provided you have a powerful enough drill) and would really help. Or if it's going to be near a wall you could put an anchor into the wall.

Thanks SO much everyone. What a lovely area of mumsnet this is. I hit buy on the Forest Pansy. I did read about the potential leaf fragility in the wind but took a punt. The hunt for a pot begins...

Eucalyptus. Keep on top of it and you can cut the stems for the house, too.