Trees, trees and more trees

Today, the north wind doth blow with unwelcome vengeance.  Our neighbours have lost a huge limb from a lime tree and our apples are raining down like grenades.  I have confined the chickens to their run for protection.  The gale is roaring through the trees and our bean canes have been flattened.  It is a good job the damsons are harvested – there is no way Doc could clamber up a ladder today.

The garden is definitely out of bounds at present because the trees are bending ominously and twiggy stuff is flying everywhere.  However, trees are still my favourite feature of any garden and they form the backbone to Springfield.  They are the garden’s structure and compliment the big sky and valley beyond.  I have heard it said that you look down on flowers but you look up to trees and I agree with this sentiment.  The vegetables are for the season and the pot, the flowers are the fizz but it is the trees that are awesome.  They give permanence and presence to the garden and hopefully they will be a legacy for long after we are gone. 

Since moving here we have added several varieties of apple, plum, pear and damson trees in the orchard.  We have also planted an aromatic Asian pear tree and a long row of different cordon apples.  The new dwarf rooting stocks will ensure that managing the trees and harvesting the fruit will be easier in the future. On the ornamental front we are pleased with our weeping silver pear tree (Pyrus salicifolia Pendula) and a lovely medium golden birch (Betula ‘Golden Beauty’).

There is a lovely compact Magnolia Stellata (Star Magnolia) which we associate with the arrival of spring and although the white flowers are dreamily scented, its furry buds are just as appealing.  The huge purple beech tree that is in touching distance of the house needed to be expertly surveyed.  However, being fully grown (100 years old!) and on good foundations, it was reprieved.  We love the autumn colour and are happy to put up with millions of squirrels invading us for the nuts.

We have also had some of the older trees pruned and unfortunately some thugs have had to be removed.  There was a particularly attractive conifer, with lime green tassels and attractive cones.  It was only 5 feet high when we came here but when Doc removed the tree stake, it took off at an alarming rate and grew to twice the size in a very short time.  When we discovered that its eventual height would be in excess of 90 feet it unfortunately got the chop.  Although we are fairly large, we are not a stately park and a very attractive acer looks just as good in its place!  We don’t feel guilty about this because logs are seasoned and burned on the fire to cut down on heating bills and for every tree lost we have planted at least one replacement. 

Last to go was a nameless perpendicular conifer that was nothing more but an exclamation mark at the foot of the lawn and a friend has sourced us a Cornus Kousa 'China Girl' (Chinese Flowering Dogwood) to go in its place.  This will eventually grow to a modest 20 feet and has eye-catching creamy-white bracts in June, good red and orange autumn tints to the leaves and brightly coloured, strawberry-like fruits in the autumn.

Since we are keen to keep on planting trees, on Doc and I recently visited the Bluebell Arboretum and Nursery, near Ashby de la Zouch in Derbyshire.  (Thank goodness we didn’t go today!).  Entry is free to RHS members which is a bonus and it is well worth a visit.

There is wonderful woodland garden that was started in 1992 and the site now covers 9 acres with many of the specimens already looking well established.  We wandered under trees, through trees, beside a pond and along grassy paths – and we had the whole place to ourselves.  There was just a hint of autumn colour but whatever the season, it is the vast range of trees and shrubs that is so captivating and many of them, including some of the rare varieties, are available to buy.

The Betula Ermanii ‘Grayswood Hill’ (Erman’s Birch) was beautiful with its peeling creamy white bark and foliage which turns yellow in the autumn.  However, it was the Liquidambar styraciflua 'Slender Silhouette' (Columnar Sweet Gum) that wowed us and has definite possibilities in our garden.  It is a beautiful and exceptionally narrow variety with strong red, orange and yellow autumn colour.  Once established, a 5 metre tall specimen will have a spread of only 1 metre. It is an excellent choice of tree for a small garden but we are considering grouping several together for even greater impact.

We are waiting for the Nursery’s new stock to arrive in the autumn and then we will be investing in a Sorbus Sargentiana (Sargent’s Rowan) for the bed at the front of the house.  This is recommended on the RHS website and is known for its glowing autumn colour and crimson sticky buds, complimented by huge trusses of red berries in autumn and early winter.  The leaves are dark green and turn shades of rich amber and red in October before, apparently rivalling the autumn colours of Liquidambar or Acer.  It is the just the choice for the limited space we have at the front and will deliver interest all year round. 

I wish I taken my camera to Bluebell Arboretum but I am reminded to photograph our trees more often because they are really the stars of the show.  Given how many trees we wrote down on post-it notes at the Arboretum, we may finish up with a forest!

But there won’t be any planting until the wind has died down.