Suggestions for replacement of cedar tree

Hi Everyone,

As posted on another thread, I will soon have to bring down my Western Red Cedar (middle of photos) which has succumbed to either disease or drought....

I would now like to ask friends on this forum what they might suggest as a replacement.

This is the situation:

• its in the centre of a line of trees in the front garden
• this means I'll be losing part of the natural 'screen' and a significant part of my garden
• I want to replace it with mature tree or trees what will grow quite rapidly
• The spot gets partial sun and the soil is well drained

I did think I would replace it with a single evergreen tree (kind of like-for-like) but I realise I can't get anything much taller than around 2m without paying a fortune.

But now I'm thinking let's take the opportunity to replace with 2 or 3 smaller trees - not necessarily all evergreen - but something with colour (perhaps copper beech or red robin, alongside a magnolia?). I also like Monkey Puzzles but, again, its going to take years to 'fill the hole' the cedar has left. We do need the screen and it needs to fit in with what we have but we don't need something the same height as the existing cedar

Many of you will have the imagination to provide some ideas and I look forward to hearing them!

Thanks in advance

 

My sympathies @Floyd. I hate loosing mature trees and have lost a few over these last 3 or 4 years because of the very substantial gales. I lost a 250 year old Beech tree a couple of years ago. I actually saw her come down and could hardly believe my eyes. She had a girth of 17 feet!! I admit I cried when she came down.

You do not say whereabouts you live so not entirely sure how hardy any new tree would need to be. Monkey Puzzle trees are lovely but anything that you can’t stick in your eye will cost the earth and very slow growing.
I have a lovely Cedar Atlantica Glauca (Blue Cedar). Fairly fast growing but perhaps what has killed your Cedar might also kill another variety?
I have some enormous Copper Beech which I love. They do not grow as fast as the green but once they get going they do grow quite fast. Not expensive to buy and bare rooted establish well.

My favourite species of trees are the Sorbus. Not huge growing trees but have so much going for them with blossom, lots of different coloured berries and many colour spectacularly well in Autumn. Maybe have a look at Sorbus Sargentiana, my favourite Sorbus. Another tree for fantastic autumn colour is Liquidamber. Not a huge tree but not small either. Very late into growth but late to loose leaves and is spectacular in Autumn.
Sure others on GC will come up with other ideas for you to consider and sorry about your great Cedar.

 

I think not knowing if it's drought or disease is quite important. If it's drought a smaller tree might be ok (at least to begin with) but if it's disease then you would want to know if it could happen again.

Can I suggest a possible out of the box idea? as cedar is quite rot resistant then you could cut it down to a selected height and then grow a rambling rose up it. You could quickly get it covered in a few years and then plant smaller specimens of whatever tree you like in front. With a smaller tree it would be easier to establish if it is drought and you'd have some cover until it gets going.

 

Its worth remembering that Western red Cedar is not actually a cedar, Cedrus, but Thuja a different species.
Cedars are good looking trees IMO, and definitely want to put something in that gap that will be there for years to come.

If it has to be fast growing then maybe a Eucalyptus as we have been discussing in your thread @hailbopp.

 

Do the other trees provide you with enough screening @Floyd? The foliage is quite high on what look like trunks with raised canopies. I wonder whether a row of fast growing shrubs to create an informal hedge might be an option along your fence line, but you may want to preserve the woodland setting with another tree. If so, I’d choose another conifer for continuity. Most trees take at least 7 years or so before they make an impact though.

 

Whatever you plant, it's going to need some serious soil preparation to compensate for what the Cedar has taken out over the years and to compete with the remaining trees.
My all time favourite conifer is Chamaecyparis nootkatensis pendula. It would stay clothed down to the ground, so making a good screen? Eucalyptus gunnii is very fast growing and evergreen but might find the conditions too dry. Another beautiful evergreen is Arbutus unedo rubra, something of interest all year round.

 

Many thanks for the ideas thus far.
To answer a few questions:

@hailbopp - thank you, I too hate to lose mature trees and it's prominence in the garden just makes it worse. Your idea of a Cedar Atlantica Glauca is good - it would bring some colour. WDo you think that and the beech would be OK with the rest of the line-up of is it a bit eclectic? I could cut back the cherry blossoms on the left of the cedar to make more room. I'll definitely look at the Sorbus Sargentiana - I'm unfamiliar with them. And we live in Kent.

@Thevictorian - I've tried to identify the problem (and actually posted on another forum on GC because none of the tree surgeons who came out could diagnose the issue). I have to arborists coming on Wednesday to try and identify if it was the topsy-turvy weather of recent years or a disease that killed it. All I know is that it went from 'green' to the colour it is now in less than 2 months - a rapid decline. Not sure if a coincidence but I had to remove a diseased silver birch earlier this year.

@pete - yes, Eucalyptus is an option

@Plantminded - yes, I would rather have a couple of trees rather than a hedge

@noisette47 - I'll take a look at the Chamaecyparis nootkatensis pendula !


Keep the ideas coming - its really helpful!

 

Like @Thevictorian, my first thought was a rampant climber up the trunk and branches of the deceased tree. If you are in a warmer part of the UK, some passion flower varieties would be hardy enough. These grow fast, are evergreen, produce flowers in summer and fruits in autumn, and don't need pruning attention so if it got higher than could be reasonable reached, that would not be a problem.

 

Thanks @ViewAhead - I'll definitely look into it but they would have to be evergreens or what's left of the cedar will just look like a strange red column in the middle of the garden during the winter months!