suitable trees?

Hi all I'm after some advice on picking the right trees for my garden whilst I'm really excited (I love trees),I'm also a little worried about picking the wrong trees for the area in question.
Firstly,the area is a corner which is south west and has dappled shade in the morning as there are trees to the west of our boundary.I have a few shrubs planted and the birds love this part of the garden.I would love it to be a little woodland type area as our living room looks out towards it,the light through the trees is beautiful and I love watching the birds.this is also a windy spot,as the south and west are completely exposed!we recently just built our home and haven't had the time yet to do anything other than put up green netting along the boundaries and we have beautiful views so we're not sure how to combat the wind without blocking these views...I think that's another post on its own
I was thinking along the lines of crab apple or a hardy blossom type tree simply for year round interest and benefit for wildlife but would a windy site be suitable?
I had also thought about small leaved Lime,as I have room for a few trees? I don't want anything that will completely block out the light,if that makes sense?
My husband would like a Korean spruce tree incorporated into this area as a little outdoor Christmas tree for the children...good or bad idea?I'm a bit dubious to be honest
Sorry for rambling,any advice will be greatly appreciated

 

Hi Marley. I am a birder and almost everything I plant is with birds in mind. Three really good trees for birds are Silver Birtch, Rowan and Amellinchar. Firstly Silver Birtch: more species will use it than any other tree except oak. It grows quite quickly but does get quite big but it is open and airey so doesn't cast too much shade. Many insects feed on and live in them so birds will be attracted. This would be my first choice if you have space.

Rowan: it will not do well on clay so if you have clay soil something else will be better. It produces a lot of berries which the thrushes love if the Starlings don't eat them all first. Berries come in several colours but red is best for birds.

Amellinchar: this is a North American species and probably is not as wildlife friendly as some European natives but it is an attractive berrying tree which will attract the thrushes.

You mention crab apple; they are good too. I have one called Red Sentinel which holds onto its fruit until the new year but the birds really only eat them when everything else has run out. I guess the fruit doesn't taste very good. Cherry trees are excellent but the wild one gets huge. If you choose an ornamental one, make sure it is one that fruits well.

Good luck choosing. I love planting trees; it is so positive and forward looking.

 

Hi @Redwing ,thank you for all the information.I'm learning so much from you guys,its great.I had no idea silver birch was a favourite with birds,my husband isn't keen on it though I will try and talk him around .I must admit I haven't heard of the amellinchar,I will have a look for it.I love cherry blossom,but I was afraid our site would be too exposed.I will have a good chat with the folk at the garden centre to make sure we get a suitable one.
My husband would have our garden filled with trees,I have to be the sensible one,though it is hard - one could get carried away!

 

Well surely he would agree to a Silver Birch then!

This is a really good book about gardening for wildlife:
https://www.amazon.co.uk/RSPB-Garde...&qid=1468784545&sr=1-6&keywords=adrian+thomas

 

Lol you would think that but he really doesn't like them!! he would much prefer a Korean spruce...thanks for the link it looks like an interesting read

 

I have an exposed windy garden too Marley. I've lost quite a few trees including two Rowans so I would recommend the Whitebeam which is also a member of the Sorbus family. I have a purple Malus and that's pretty tough too.

Contrary to what Redwing has said I've had no problems with Rowans on clay in the past. They will adapt to any soil.

 

Hi @Sheal thanks for your advice.I really like Whitebeam so that's good to know.do you find they have a really dense canopy?will have a look at a purple malus I can't think of what it's like.I keep calling the Korean fir 'spruce' sorry!
It's good to hear from a fellow gardener who's in an exposed area,it gives me hope that I may be able to do something with our space

 

Although I don't have one they are growing on a green just 40ft from my garden and thriving. Yes they do have a fairly dense canopy but that is offset by the light coloured foliage.

My Malus below. Strangely this is the second time I've posted this picture on GC this week. It's still only a young tree which I planted five years ago and has struggled a bit in my sandy soil as I'm in a coastal position, but it has coped with the strong winds we get here.

 

It's a beautiful tree @Sheal thank you for posting a picture of it.we're not coastal just very exposed to the wind coming off the mountain.whitebeam is lovely,there's quite a few folk in our area have them in their gardens.who knew choosing trees could be such a difficult thing but I suppose it's much better researching now and picking what's suitable instead of making costly mistakes!!

 

Interesting; my garden is on VERY heavy clay and they don't like it....the roots just rot. I suppose clay on top of a better draining subsoil may be different. Where I see them growing naturally and growing well is on lowland heathland, a thin sandy soil. I believe they do well on the uplands of northern England and Scotland too. Another name for them is Mountain Ash; I think there is probably a clue there.

 

I have been looking closely at the trees in our surrounding area and there aren't rowan/mountain ash trees..lots and lots of beech and copper beech,hazel,alder,ash,sycamore and lots of holly...maybe give rowan a miss just in case,we have very heavy clay soil too

 

I was wondering if I was to go for some of the bigger trees such as oak or the small leaved lime and planted them close together will that restrict their growth in that they won't grow as big as they normally would?

 

How much space do you have Marley? Planting oaks.....well that is for the great grandchildren. They take 100 years to get to a reasonable size, then another 100 years to get big and then another 200 years to mature......same goes for Beech.

What exactly are you hoping to achieve? Perhaps you could post some pictures of the space you have.

 

Our site is just under an acre.we have huge beech trees along the western boundary of our garden.it's just something that I've seen done recently where beech,small leaved lime,oak and silver birch were planted in a fairly small space.I suppose I just wondered if this style of planting restricted the growth of the trees.
Unfortunately my camera is broken on my phone it would have been great to show you the area in question

 

We have just under an acre.our boundary to the east has huge beech trees which are just beautiful.
I've recently saw beech,oak,silver birch and small leaved lime planted in a fairly small area,all close together.I suppose I just wondered if this style of planting restricted the growth of trees.
It's possibly a wind screen or for privacy I would imagine but when I actually think about it it's not for us.
Unfortunately my camera is broken on my phone, it would have been great to show you guys the area in question.
This is where my inexperience shows @Redwing,I can see it in my head but I'm unsure how to achieve it.