Need a tree

Hello!

My garden really needs a bit of height, especially now that I have lost through storm and rain some large specimens. It's like I have to start again.

I posted the other about about my Olea which looks to be a recent loss (storm damage a year or so ago).

I think anything that grown large here needs to be a good suit for the environment. We get some strong coastal winds, 80kt gusts are not unheard of. I'm on sandy soil, and I think neutral to acid. The view is looking South East

The local park has young silver birches, and they have not fallen over. I really quite like them - especially a multistem one. I've a couple of places I could add a tree - red dots on my photo. On the right there is the old olea to remove. On the trampoline area, I was going to plant in to the lawn, and next year create a border around it.

Any other ideas for suitable trees? I know it's getting towards a good time to plant.

Appreciate any thoughts.

 

Silver birches are lovely but create a lot of mess. Seeds as well as leaves, and they shed tiny little twigs all year round as well which can jam up your mower.

I have two mature ones, they do a fantastic job at attracting the birds in and I'm very grateful to the original owner of my house who planted them.

 

@Escarpment . That's an interesting observation, I hadn't thought of the mess. Certainly food for thought.

I quite liked the idea of a native tree. I feel (maybe misguided) that they will be more likely to face up to the conditions

 

I know they're a cliche, but there are lots of lovely sorbus with different berry colours

 

I do like Sorbus, but (I am so picky) I can't bear the smell of the blossom!

 

Whitebeam (Sorbus aria) is another option, the flowers don’t have that scent. The main features are the leaf colour and shape. They don’t mind sandy soil as long as they have adequate moisture. Nice pond you have there @Nickoslesteros!

 

Maybe a really big pot in the position of the one on the right hand side with a tall elegant bamboo in it? Plant stuff around the pot so that you don’t see it.

 

Maybe a Eucryphia or an Arbutus, go for the posh one with the nice bark.

 

+1 for Arbutus, but unedo rubra every time. The pink bells make much more of an impact than the standard white ones. Beautiful bark, fruit and evergreen...

 

Prunus serrula will give you a stunning winter feature with its bark. They are not particularly messy trees either. I wouldn’t let the messiness put you off a Silver Birch though, they grow very well in this area.

 

I wouldn't be put off birches either. The wind just blows most of the foliage away anyway!
It does pay to have a good site for them though, because if they need pruned, it has to be done well. There's one near me which has been butchered and looks ddreadful all year round. It would be better if they just removed it.
The weeping ornamental pears are also nice. Pyrus salicifolia pendula. SImilar colouring to Whitebeams.

I can't smell anything on rowan flowers. Maybe that's just me. The other Sorbus mentioned [Whitebeam ] is a lovely tree, and mainly have a good shape and habit. They get big though, so again, the right site is important.

 

Eucryphia is a forest tree and can grow to 30ft. I have a young one growing at the bottom of my garden as I bought it for the flowers. I have no neighbours to complain when it reaches maturity.

 

Hm. I quite like this bamboo idea. Is the pot to prevent it getting out of control? Something like a half barrel?

 

I ordered a Silver Birch in the end - but a single stem. Having wandered around the neighbourhood for a few days looking at trees, I decided it was right.

I really want more trees. Next door removed (probably rightly) some huge evergreen (not Lleylandii, but similar) which used to cast my garden in to complete shade and suck all of the remaining moisture out of the ground. But as a result, in the afternoon sun, I feel I sometimes get _too_ much sunlight, if that's a thing! I have a weird feeling my garden feels empty, but with no room to plant anything!

 

Thanks. I wish I could take the credit, but previous owners responsible! Takes some cleaning. Deep too!