How to Choose a Tree for Your Garden

How to choose a tree for your garden is not as simple as some people would have you believe but neither does it need to be complicated if you’re aware of the essential facts. My aim here is to give you those facts; explain some of the related horticultural and legal terms; and inspire you with possible trees to bring pleasure to your life.
A tall order, but let’s see how we go. There are links at the end for related Plews blogs both practical and inspirational.

How to Choose a Tree for Your Garden – Edible, Ornamental, Deciduous, Evergreen?

Edible trees – fruit, berries, nuts, leaves

Edible trees will give you spring blossom, sometimes impressive, and of course fruit for you and wildlife.
There are many tree species which carry fruit or berries that humans are able to eat, so think beyond the obvious apples and plums. For example, Amelanchier lamarckii, the snowy mesphilus.
Nut trees include hazel, Corylus avellana; sweet almond, Prunus dulcis; walnut, Juglans regla and sweet chestnut, Castanea sativa

Ornamental trees

By which I mean, your main reason for choosing the tree is for the aesthetic pleasure it will bring you. One of your considerations has to be for how long do you want your tree to look gorgeous. Will the tree be chosen for –

two weeks of stupendous glory, then nothing much at all for the rest of the year
spring or summer flowers followed by colourful berries for the birds
autumn or winter flowering
leaf colour – in spring and / or in autumn
interesting shape of the tree when the branches are bare in winter, corkscrew effect for example
an overall interesting form, such as weeping (which is known as pendulous)
coloured bark for winter interest

Naturally some trees will combine two or more of these features. And for some of them, the tree may be evergreen or deciduous.
The size of your garden and how visible the tree will be from your windows are important too. Walk around your neighbourhood in August and remind yourself that those glorious flowering Magnolia in May, are evergreens casting shade over the house the remainder of the year. In a small front garden this does not need to be a problem, but as a central feature in a small back garden its not necessarily a good idea.

How to choose a tree for your garden also includes knowing how often you’ll be sweeping up leaves. Let’s state a couple of obvious facts next, as I’m often amazed at how clients have forgotten them.

Deciduous trees

The definition of a deciduous tree is generally given as referring to a tree (or shrub) which loses its leaves in autumn as they die, and grows new ones each spring. However, some deciduous trees like beech, Fagus sylvatica, keep the dead foliage on until the spring.

Evergreen trees

Most conifers are evergreen, but larch, Larix spp, and Gingko are deciduous. And of course not all evergreen trees are conifers, think of Laurel, Camellia, Yew, Taxus spp. The main difference is that evergreens replace their old leaves continuously, all year round.

How to Choose a Tree for Your Garden – other things to consider

The soil in your garden – that is whether you have clay, chalk or a sandy soil, and how deep the soil, particularly the top soil layer, is.

Dry gardens and high water tables – in other words the availability of water in the soil is crucial when choosing your tree. If your garden is prone to flooding in winter but dry in summer, then it really pays to see what trees are thriving in your area, as these are most likely to thrive in your garden too.

Pollution and salt air – if you live near a busy road or the coast, you will need to source trees that will tolerate these conditions.

Height and spread – how big will a given species grow to? You should consider this in relation not only on your own garden and house, but on your neighbours’ too. Remember to check where power cables and drains run. Plus, if you live near a junction consider whether the tree will impact on visibility for cars pulling out or cause damage to overhead electricity cables.

Maintenance – it is irresponsible to plant a tree, look after it until it has established but then never bother trimming it and keeping it healthy. Trees planted in a garden environment should be maintained along with all the other plants. In later years, this may involve using tree surgeons, so add this into your ongoing care budget.

How to Choose a Tree for Your Garden – bare root, standard and more horticultural terms

Firstly, the way in which the tree is presented for sale –

Bare root
Root-balled
Container grown

Bare root

Usually younger nursery stock, available only when dormant, ie November to March. Just to confuse you, both deciduous and evergreen trees may be sold this way.

Root-balled

This means the tree is sold with a covering of soil on their roots and wrapped in hessian for transportation.

Container grown

The most common type most people will see as they’re widely available in garden centres. These are trees which have been grown in the container they’re sold in and are ready for you to plant. They’re generally available year round.

And then how tree stock is categorised. You may see slight variations of these but I’ve tried to cover all possible terms.

Seedling
Maiden or maiden whip
Whip
Transplant
Feather
Half standard (as standard)
Standard with leader
Standard with branching
Multi-stemmed
Heavy standard (as standard)
Semi-mature

Seedlings are small, as the name suggests, generally less than 1 metre tall,

Maiden or whip refers to a very young tree that has few if any branches, whilst feathers have branches. A transplant is likely to have a reasonable root system. These categories are 1 – 2 metre tall.

Half-standards, standards and heavy standards will all look similar, with a straight stem and a cluster of branches at the top. The difference is mainly in the maturity, as distinguished by the height and girth of the stem (trunk). For example, heavy standards are over 3.5 metres, girth 140mm.

A semi-mature tree is over 4 metres tall and is likely to be more than 10-15 years old.

Now, which of these trees might be bare root and which container grown?

Seedling, maiden and whip are pretty much certain to be bare root or possibly root-balled.
Transplant and feather could be presented as any of the root types, and even half standards can be found as bare root from certain outlets.
Standards and heavy standards will be root-balled or container grown.
Semi mature are most likely to be root-balled, as they will have been dug up to order.

Points to note

1] certain slow growing species will be grown in containers even when they’re semi-mature; Olive trees are the obvious example.

2] bare root and root-ball trees are often potted up and then sold on as containerised plants. This is fine, but they shouldn’t be sold as container grown (which are more expensive). It pays to check how “snug” a tree is in its pot if you’re buying just after the bare root season finishes. Loose potting compost can be a give away, although sometimes this is due to re-potting instead. You can tell the difference as a re-potted into bigger pot tree will have loose soil around a central non-disturbed root ball (check the roots on the edges). With a recently potted up bare root tree you’ll be able to lift the tree out of the pot with hardly any soil attached to the roots.

Rootstock

Many fruit trees and some specimen trees are sold not with their own roots but with a different rootstock grafted on. Among other things, this affects the ultimate size of the tree. As fruit trees also need to have the correct pollination partner if they are not self fertile these will be the subject of another blog. Suffice to say check out these requirements as well as the general ones (or get in touch with us at Plews!)

How to Choose a Tree for Your Garden – legal stuff

Tree Preservation Order – TPO

A Tree Preservation Order has been made in order to protect a tree which brings a “significant amenity benefit” to an area. It can apply to trees in the garden as well as to street trees, trees in parks and woodlands; to individual trees or to a group of trees.

However, if you live in a Conservation Area or Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) then the trees in the garden are given automatic protection. There are various other areas and situations where trees may be covered by area (“blanket TPO”) or individual TPOs, for example, listed gardens and National Parks. But it’s a large topic and too much to discuss within this article, especially as its not relevant to most of you.

Yes, you may say, but I’m planting a tree not cutting one down. True, but as that tree grows it will become included within the generic TPO. You may also, and certainly in the situation of an SSSI, be limited as to which tree species you may plant. The rules relating to fruit trees are slightly different and hedges are not usually covered by TPOs.

And finally…

This how to choose a tree for your garden blog is intended as a starting point for you in your decision making. If you feel its too much to take on, Plews offers an advisory service to help with all the ‘boring bits’ leaving you with a shortlist of suitable trees, including appropriate species for your particular garden, so you can do the fun bits. Trees are a long term investment and you’ll want to get it right, drop us an email and we can start a conversation about your needs and issues.

We can also advice on how to plant the tree you’ve chosen, for example whether it would require expert help. And also how to prepare the area for planting. These are topics I have covered briefly in other blogs, but as each garden is different it is too much detail to go into here.

However, there are other tips and tricks, some of which can be found in other Plews Potting Shed blogs, including the selection below, our monthly Tipsheet and regularly on Instagram and Facebook