tree recommendation?

evening gardeners

i'm contemplating adding a tree or 2 to my garden but i'm a bit stuck on what to go for. the garden is not big (54ft long x 30ft wide) so dont want anything that will grow humungously big.

ideally i'd like something a bit different to the usual suspects with good interesting leaf/bark formation, preferably evergreen, able to take wind (and salt air) and fit in with some exotic planting. the part where it/they will go will not impare on our garden getting sun at all, so even if they were 50 ft tall it wouldn't impact on our garden (although the neighbour would be non too happy! )

your thoughts would be very much appreciated

ta, Al.

 

I have a salix flamingo i think its called, its stays quite short but looks amazing and i think its leaves change colour through out the year.

 

A good evergreen, smallish tree with interesting bark..........I would go with either Myrtus apiculata or maybe Arbutus unedo, the strawberry tree. They would take a few years to get the affect you are after though.

 

Mountain ash - good autumn colour, great berries during the winter. You'll see them in street planting, so not rare, but you can get varieties with much more unusual berry colours, so that might suit?
Obtusa:



Joseph rock


There are Acers with interesting bark. snake bark maple

Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum)

or Prunus serrula


Silver Birch? particularly the Jackmonii ones - you'd need to plant 3 or 5 in a clump to get the benefit of the trunks looking their best I reckon




Judas Tree - interesting round leaves (and copper-leaf varieties available). Looks a bit like a cherry in the photo, but it is subtly different to that when it flowers:


Or you could plant a cherry? Lots to choose from, and well worth choosing the most flamboyant varieties rather than just grabbing whatever your local garden centre happens to have in stock!

If you want a large-ish tree, without anything particularly flamboyant, then I think Ginkgo biloba is a good choice. It has back-to front leaves, but its whole growth style has a character all of its own, particularly from a bit of a distance, so for something "at the end of the garden" it would be very nice to look out onto from the house (deciduous - one of only a handful of deciduous conifers, it doesn't have "needles" either! - with good Autumn colour)



Just on a couple of plants mentioned earlier:

I'd be a bit thoughtful about hardiness of Myrtus apiculata on the Wirral, and Arbutus unedo will prefer an acid/neutral soil, so might struggle if your soil is alkaline

 

p.s. if you just want a tree, evergreen, good with salt air, and with a reasonably interesting "pattern" of growth once mature, then the evergreen Oak would be a good choice - Quercus ilex.

 

ooh, i do like that. seems ideal for my gardens position.


cheers for the suggestions guys, very much appreciated.

 

Luma (formerly Myrtus) apiculata is hardy in Wirral, so this should be no problem at all.. Arbutus are also a nice specimen, and the added bonus is, if you pick the fruits at the right time (at the pinky orange-red stage of ripening), then they taste pretty good. Luma apiculata fruits are also edible, and apparently taste pretty good and tart, so it could be a practical tree as well as a tree catering for aesthetics.

Best to buy these trees fairly large though if you want the effect right away.

However they do sell small Luma apiculata in one of the plant nurseries in Wallasey (near Wallasey Village train station), if you do not mind waiting for them to groe

 

mimosa is really salty tolerante and look exotic too.

pine tree are tolerante as well

or something to overwinter , but supposily frost tolerant.

moringa oleifera...it would be amazing as with the age will get a bottle shape trunk , originally from himalaya suppose to tolerete frost when big.

 

Good suggestions.

 

usual costal city are have milder weather and lighter frost , if the temperature dasn`t go down to -6 and want something impressive exotic why don`t you try.

magnolia microphilla

or shefflera mycrophilla

 

Maybe something from the Podocarpus genus..

How about Cytisus battandieri?

others..

Callistemon spp.

Maybe try Pinus pinea?

Magnolia grandiflora?

oh and another smallish but well formed tree.. Sophora tetraptera.. it has ash like leaves, evergreen and hardy in our climate...

 

cheers again for all the suggestions!!

waiting for things to grow is no problem, i'm in this house for the long haul so time isn't a problem

 

If I had to choose one, it would be: At least 3 season interest, 4 seasons if I could get it. And have fruit on it for the birds, and a good smelling flower in the spring.