About Trees

Wonderful and magnificent trees are the giants in nature. they add height and structure to a garden and there are many different varieties that would be suitable to plant.

Coniferous or evergreen ones are the type that stay green all year round such as pine and there are the deciduous ones that shed their leaves in the autumn. It is the these that give all the different Autumn colours as the leaves begin to get ready to fall.

There are many that have stood to a few hundred years one being the famous old tree called "The Major Oak" in Sherwood Forest near Nottingham. Just think of all the things that may have happened beneath its branches an whether its trunk was actually used as a hideaway or a larder.

Arboretums are places that house all types of trees. Some may be a  collection of the many different varieties of many types of trees and it is wonderful to walk between them admiring their sometimes very wide girth.

Types of Trees

When choosing a garden tree take a while in deciding the right one for your garden and think about what size it may be in 5, 10 or 15 years time.

There is no point in planting a tree in  a small area that will eventually end up too large so that all that is seen from the window is a woody trunk no matter how lovely it may be.

A very large tree may also inhibit the growth of grass or other plants underneath so eventually your garden wold look very bare at ground level.

Many species have dwarf forms where one type of tree is joined onto a root of one that has limited growth thus making that tree a dwarf form. Some trees are slow growing and when buying trees growth information is usually printed on the label with a picture of expected size in a number of years.

Trees also give us food, shade in the summer and beauty. Some believe they have a special quality and just sitting beside one, touching the roughness of the bark (bark rubbing pictures are a craft that can be done) or even giving one a hug is good for our wellbeing.

Apart from seeing lovely specimens of Ash , Oak, Horse Chestnut, Elm or Beech. I also like the gnarled and oddly grown ones as well. I love looking at stumps that have been dug up and are now rotting back into the earth especially if there is also some fungal growth. These can even be made into a garden themselves called a stumpery. 

In the garden I have now there is a beautiful oak tree. It has been planted far enough away from the houses and squirrels race up and down its branches grabbing acorns when they are available. There are little oak trees growing in the garden where they have forgotten to come back and eat the ones they have stashed away. But one of these trees is enough in a medium to large sized plot.

Hope you can find the right tree for your plot.

1. Home
 ›
2. About Trees