Advice regarding small tree?

scottduffy

scottduffy

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Hi Guys,

I have an area on a raised part of my garden that i want to plant a nice smallish (6 foot max) tree and i haven't a clue what to buy. Ideally i would like something that flowers or at least has some nice colour tones to it. Any ideas?

Regards

Scott
 
Japanese maple ?

Love them, fabulous colour

There are quite a few varieties that will suit the space you want to fill, but they drop leaves and don't look anything in the winter.
 
A weeping flowering cherry?

Flowers in spring and good autumn colour but bare in winter.

Or maybe a Cotoneaster which has flowers , berries and is evergreen?
 
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I would plant an Amelanchia, 'Snowy mespilus', (Amelanchier lamarcki) it has everything you might look for in a small tree - flowers in spring, good shape and autumn colour.

Otherwise, maybe a dogwood, 'Cornus florida ' or a viburnum, 'Viburnum mariesii' both are superb large shrubs/small trees.
 
Acer palmatum dissectum atropurpureum

Japanese maple, finely divided leaves, purple until autumn when it goes amazing reds, yellows etc.
 
Another thing to consider is hardiness. Lanarkshire might limit your choices a bit.
 
You will not find a true tree to grow to 6ft tall maximum. Acers are about your only bet although they prefer a shady and sheltered spot.

You are looking more at medium/large shrubs.
Something like a Standard might work for you - these are usually shaped into a ball on top a 5ft stem - think lollypop
Standard rose would give you flowers but no leaves in winter, standard evergreen shrub like Photinia has red leaves in spring.
Magnolia are slow growing and can be pruned
Fruit trees can be purchased on a patio or M27 rootstock which will grow to around 5ft.
Euonymous alatus has bright red autumn leaves and will do about 7ft max
There are a few other options. Im not sure what the climate in lanarkshire is like on growth so you might find some larger options may be inhibited due to shorter growing period.
I would suggest visiting a good local garden centre and see what they have and they should be able to show you the options, do bare in mind that many now only stock plants in thier main season of interest. Magnolias flower in spring so there will not be many available now.
 
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joxby said:
Japanese maple ?

Love them, fabulous colour

There are quite a few varieties that will suit the space you want to fill, but they drop leaves and don't look anything in the winter.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I'll have a look at them.
 
Tigger.ufo said:
A weeping flowering cherry?

Flowers in spring and good autumn colour but bare in winter.

Or maybe a Cotoneaster which has flowers , berries and is evergreen?
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. I'll check them out.
 
Cartus said:
I would plant an Amelanchia, 'Snowy mespilus', (Amelanchier lamarcki) it has everything you might look for in a small tree - flowers in spring, good shape and autumn colour.

Otherwise, maybe a dogwood, 'Cornus florida ' or a viburnum, 'Viburnum mariesii' both are superb large shrubs/small trees.
Click to expand...
Thanks for these. I'll have a read up on them.
 
AgentOrange76 said:
You will not find a true tree to grow to 6ft tall maximum. Acers are about your only bet although they prefer a shady and sheltered spot.

You are looking more at medium/large shrubs.
Something like a Standard might work for you - these are usually shaped into a ball on top a 5ft stem - think lollypop
Standard rose would give you flowers but no leaves in winter, standard evergreen shrub like Photinia has red leaves in spring.
Magnolia are slow growing and can be pruned
Fruit trees can be purchased on a patio or M27 rootstock which will grow to around 5ft.
Euonymous alatus has bright red autumn leaves and will do about 7ft max
There are a few other options. Im not sure what the climate in lanarkshire is like on growth so you might find some larger options may be inhibited due to shorter growing period.
I would suggest visiting a good local garden centre and see what they have and they should be able to show you the options, do bare in mind that many now only stock plants in thier main season of interest. Magnolias flower in spring so there will not be many available now.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this. Plenty of helpful information. I have a few garden centres to visit but hadn't quite gotten round to it yet.
 
joxby said:
Japanese maple ?

Love them, fabulous colour

There are quite a few varieties that will suit the space you want to fill, but they drop leaves and don't look anything in the winter.
Click to expand...
Think hard about location - we were advised by a gardener to get one, so we did. Cost me a lot of money for a tree that suffers from sunburn and has almost died due to too much exposure to sunshine. Looked beautiful when it had leaves on it though...
 
stevewestern said:
Think hard about location - we were advised by a gardener to get one, so we did. Cost me a lot of money for a tree that suffers from sunburn and has almost died due to too much exposure to sunshine. Looked beautiful when it had leaves on it though...
Click to expand...

I'm not a gardener, never considered any of that, just bought one because they are absolutely beautiful.
As it happens, we must have chosen the right location and soil because it was a fantastic thing, apart from the fall I never did a thing with it besides the odd prune.
You're absolutely right of course, the last thing you want is to kill the thing with environmental issues.
I ought to say though, its not the first thing you think of when picturing a tree, the maple we had was tree like initially but kinda spread out and became a cross between a tree and a bush, but that could have been my pruning.
It was 6ft high when we left that house and not far off that wide, I guess if you keep topping them that's what they do so maybe they don't quite fit the op's requirements of a 6ft max tree.
You can keep them under 6ft by pruning but they seem to go sideways instead, more pruning...:rolleyes:
 
joxby said:
I'm not a gardener, never considered any of that, just bought one because they are absolutely beautiful.
As it happens, we must have chosen the right location and soil because it was a fantastic thing, apart from the fall I never did a thing with it besides the odd prune.
You're absolutely right of course, the last thing you want is to kill the thing with environmental issues.
I ought to say though, its not the first thing you think of when picturing a tree, the maple we had was tree like initially but kinda spread out and became a cross between a tree and a bush, but that could have been my pruning.
It was 6ft high when we left that house and not far off that wide, I guess if you keep topping them that's what they do so maybe they don't quite fit the op's requirements of a 6ft max tree.
You can keep them under 6ft by pruning but they seem to go sideways instead, more pruning...:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
As you say, beautiful trees, I'm hoping we can save ours by replanting it in a few weeks. Again, as you say, they are not what you think of when picturing a tree - in my head a tree is a stick with a green blob on top of it.
I may try to find what Cartus suggested for our soon-to-be hole in the ground, a Snowy Mespilus as it looks good and seems to like sunshine. Clearly we'll get none next summer....
 
stevewestern said:
in my head a tree is a stick with a green blob on top of it.
Click to expand...


That's basically it, A tree is a single stem with branches coming off it while a shrub has multiple stems. A bush can be either but is usually set with the lowest foliage at ground level whether tree or shrub based (according to the tree tutor on the horticulture C&G course I did many years ago!)
 
A tree can be singled stem but have branches from near the base, it doesnt have to be a clear stem from the ground up. Amelanchia, Prunus amanagowa, Cornus kousa, Magnolia along with maples all have low starting branches. Then there are ture multi stem trees like Betula jacquemontii - not the cheats way of sticking 3 seperate plants in the same hole.
 
stevewestern said:
..and tree's in Cornwall should be glad they are made from wood, or they would (??) drown...
Click to expand...
To be pedantic, most trees (excepting willow, alder and others) will 'drown' when their roots are waterlogged for any length of time as they, like us, need oxygen to live. :)
 
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