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I'd consider a lilac (depending on your soil type). Nice to get the lovely scents wafting in through open windows.
I've got a beautiful Midland Hawthorn in my garden. Paul's double Scarlett is the variety, beautiful dense fresh green leaves in Spring, stunning acid pink double flowers in Summer, and lively little red Haws in autumn, until tbe blackbirds muller them.
A flowering crab apple like Profusion or Royalty on a semi dwarfing rootstock would be nice too. Mine has gorgeous purple flowers, bronze tinged leaves which go bright orange in autumn and hang on the tree quite tenaciously, then red fruits, like rock hard apples about the size of a Malteser all winter.
That acer shown earlier was beautiful mind.
Japanese maple like countzero's can be slow growing but they can also be bought/transplanted at a pretty good size- more expensive obviously but could be a good option to overcome the slowness and to get an immediate improvement in the garden?
I like to grow from seeds or sticks tbh but sometimes you just want to get the job done.
I confess Northwind, I had you down as a clapped out mondeo estate on bricks in your front garden kind of a guy, not a horticulturalist.
Neither 🙂 May have written the mondeo off, and I just muck about in the garden a bit.
Thanks all, s. Wales based. We’ve actually got some kind of shrubby Acer in the front at the moment and I do like it so guess a more treey version would work (we’re only moving a mile away to a similarly orientated house).
It’s a good point about going native and getting something with blossom/
Berry for the wildlife. I love hawthorn flowers but the spikes make me think having one in the garden would get painful!
Crataegus crus-galli Inermis is supposedly thornless, the species is commonly known as the Cockspur Thorn. In truth it is a striking small tree, the thorns are truly impressive and can be avoided when pruning if some care is exercised.
If you're considering a palmatum Acer check the prevailing wind before planting. They don't like a draft when young.
There's a lilac that flowers twice a year if you go down this route, I can't remember its name but there's one in my shrubbery at the front. A bit slow growing but perfect for a knight of Ni!
I started worked on what I hope will be a mixed Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Crab Apple hedge last winter. That explosion of blossom in early spring is a magical thing and I think the thorny stuff provides really good shelter for birds as well.
Still no closer to deciding.. but just moved in and looking at the front garden there is a 1ft dia. tree stump cut off at ground level exactly where I’d thought to plant, with holes drilled in but not started to rot yet. How far away would I have to plant from this as I guess a pretty substantial root system underneath?
1ft? get in there with a matttock and a drywall saw.
you only need to dig the core out the wider roote system can be left behind.
Ok cool, will do that… might have to wait till I recover from lugging boxes though 😂
A Cercis of some sort would be a good shout.
I like to grow from seeds or sticks tbh but sometimes you just want to get the job done.
I’ve got six or seven tiny seedlings sprouting from my big Acer, I’ll be digging them up and re-planting them in pots soon, although three of them are already growing in a large pot that had flowers in it. Hopefully I can get them to grow and then I’ll give several of them to friends.
I started work on what I hope will be a mixed Hawthorn, Blackthorn and Crab Apple hedge last winter.
Hmmm, I’m really not sure about Blackthorn in a hedge, unless there’s concrete on either side; it’s a bugger for wanting to colonise anywhere it grows, sending suckers out and expanding outwards as much as it can.
Have planted these in the garden and all sensible sizes*
Arbutus (strawberry tree) - just let it go, amazing red bark , evergreen and pretty red fruits
Paulonia - Very vigorous. Exotic looking leaves and flowers but *needs pruning (treating it like a shrub) every couple of years to keep it a sensible size
Banana depending on where you are in the country preferably somewhere not too exposed to frost and wind
Hoheria - evergreen, flowers profusely and quick growing, pretty trouble free and sensible size.
Cork Screw Hazel - maintains a screen without leaves in winter.
Interesting, doing this myself, but want a tree to stay around 5ft ish tall. Bookmarked.
Forgot all about this thread, what ,if anything, did you end up getting, OP? You say youre South Wales based, coastal or mountainous?
Just had a thought too, was there any signs of fruiting fungus bodies on your tree stump? I lost an apricot tree and a beautiful flowering cherry (okame) both to honey fungus. Dont know if I'm just unlucky, or whether its a local thing. None of my other trees have had it, and you do see it quite regularly on old stumps here in my part of South Wales.
ETA another option is an ornamental plum. My neighbour has a very attractive one with dark purole leaves and pink / purple flowers in abundance, been there for years and is about 7' tall and nicely bushy. Might see if I can get some twigs/buds off him in July for a bit of propogation.
I went for a dwarf crab apple in front of my house for same reasons as you. Has lovely dark red leaves and rich red blossom.
Pieris japonica?
We love ours. So do the bees!