Are Rowan trees suitable for growing in pots?

I'm a complete novice when it comes to anything garden related, so please excuse the potentially stupid questions

I'd like to have a Rowan tree (nothing fancy, the bog standard Mountain Ash Sorbus aucuparia) at the front of our house, but there's nowhere really suitable to plant one (block paving driveway).

Would it be ok to grow one in a pot? Any chance of getting it to about 10 foot high? The area is sheltered on 3 sides, so wind shouldn't be a problem, so I'm guessing it just depends on how big a pot we can get hold of? (any clues as to how big a pot we'd need would be useful too :thumb

Is this a reasonable thing to attempt with a Rowan?

Thanks in advance for any help/advice.

 

I wouldn't!

Trees tend to have large tap roots, the tree in question is no exception. If you want that tree to be as healthy as possible and stable, it needs to be in the ground.

Lift up a few paving blocks and shove it in the ground. The blocks will come up easily, you've just got to hope the sub base is easy to dig as the blocks could have been put down on concrete.

 

Disagree with Brind you can grow anything in a pot you in effect bonsai it,the size of pot will determine the size you can grow it to,I have seen healthy rowans growing out of cracks in rocks when I have been climbing with barely a handfull of soil to keep them growing,care needs to be taken that they don'y dry out in containers in the summer months.

 

Hi Knows nothing,

I agree with walnut, and in fact, I have a rowan growing in a wooden pot in my garden. Trees will only grow as big as the roots allow - if you keep the roots small then the tree will not grow too big. Being as that it will be in an artificial environment you will need to keep it fed and watered regularly as there will be little or no natural nutrients.

 

I have a 10' Acer growing in a pot. It doesn't look all that healthy (but I suspect I don't water it as much / religiously as I should) and its a stonking large pot

 

Thanks for the advice - I think I'll give it a go then and see what happens

From the look of the pictures that Kirsten posted I might need to get a smaller pot though. If the tree is about 10' high, then at a rough guess that pot looks to be about 2' across and 2' high - which makes it about 20 litres (excuse the mixed units).

I've got an unused 1/2 whisky barrel I was thinking might be suitable - but at 60-70 litres, it might grow a bit bigger than I was wanting. I'll see if I can pick up a pot around the 20-30 litre mark.

Thanks again.

 

They can grow in pots as long as you keep an eye on it for when it will need repotting, and feed them when necessary.

Good Luck with it-they are good luck to have in your garden.

 

The photo is a bit deceptive, the pot is 80cm Dia. (at top) x 66cm High, which I reckon would be about 80 - 100 Litres, allowing for the tapering.

I think depth is probably an important criteria (to accommodate the tap root), and enough weight to stop it blowing over!

 

Yes, excuse my dodgy maths - I was just coming back to correct that. I'm not sure how I managed to get those figures so wrong

The barrel is 3' diameter and just over 2' deep, so it looks like it might actually be the right sort of size (and it's very heavy) - so that saves me a job of finding a suitable pot.

 

Following on from Knows Nothing's post. I also want to plant a Rowan tree in a pot. Want to put over our dog that is buried in the garden of the same name . Where put her in near my garage and next doors fence, so i do not want a full grown tree in the ground. The pot i have is 600 mm Dia X 500 mm H and is very heavy (takes 2 to move it). Can you keep the height down on a Rowan tree (to say 10") By pruning? If so, which variety should i go for? As you can see, our sons dog is a "digger"! So i will also need some for of protection for the tree. A flexible trellis or some such.

 

The consensus above is you can grow in a pot, and you should be able to keep the height down to10ft by pruning. I grow a couple in the ground and the oldest one is only about 12ft tall after about 15years.

 

Concerning plants in containers, a few basic points to consider. Watering, feeding,positioning the container, protecting the container from possible freezing or baking. Also perhaps the need to rotate the container allowing ample light etc all around. With taller subjects, consider perhaps the need for some kind of securement from wind damage. Hope this helps.