Trees and shrubs for back garden

[Mark Bayley]

We have now finished putting grass down ect.. and now want to get some trees and shrubs for the back garden. I was wondering what people would recommend. The garden isn't massive but its a good size (10m long 13m wide) My mum would like a few blossom trees as well as a few other types. We also want some bushes as well. She likes rhododendrons. What trees and shrubs do people recommend?

Mark

Edited April 9, 2008 by mark bayley

[Anti-Mild]

Get a buddleia bush. Fast growing, gets big but not too big, loads of flowers, and attracts every butterfly for miles around!

Or an azalea. Good Spring colour.

[Mark Bayley]

Yes azaleas are nice, we used to have one inside the house and that was one of the plants on my list. Is a buddleia bush the one with the long purple flowers?

Edit: Just looked it up

Thanks for advise

Edited April 9, 2008 by mark bayley

[Greyowl]

Buddleia spreads quite quickly so will need a yearly prune to keep in under control. How about some dwarf fruit trees. Plenty of those around now and you get a bonus of free fruit.

Have a look at some of the online seed and plant sites. Or BBC gardeners world and the like for ideas.

[SnowBear]

10m X 13m (33'ish x 40'ish).

Wouldn't go for many trees planted in the ground in a garden that size as all trees eventually get large and some very quickly, maybe just one in a corner away from the house, one which reaches no higer than say 12-15' for shade. I have a birch which I planted hmmm, 12 years ago as a 12" seedling which is now higher than the house! lol My garden is large so it was ok and I knew what it was going to do when I planted it. The exception is some of the fruit trees on dwarf stock like Greyowl suggests. Maybe think about dwarf trees in tubs. If they are in tubs they can be controlled up to a point as the roots are limited. Some for that purpose could be some of the dwarf maples (Acer), cherries, etc. Added advantage to this is you can move them if you don't like where they are or if you want shade in a different place.

Shrubs will again eventually grow large, though some are very slow growing.

Some which I would use..

Escalonia, a good covering shrub, say a nasty wall or shed, can be clipped hard.

Ceanothus (Californian Lilac) can be fast growing and get large quickly, have to keep it in check but the mass of blue flowers in spring is awesome. There are smaller slower growing varieties available I think.

Photina Red Robin. Can get large but probably worth trying for its bright red foliage, keep clipped often to keep getting the red new shoots.

Cotoneaster, for covering a wall, train up on a trellis, attracts bees and has berries in winter.

Pieris, slow growing but really good foliage show in the spring.

Cotinus Coggygria, (Smoke Bush), I grow this for the Autumn colours of the leaves.

Deutzia, a smaller shrub and what I would call a run of the mill shrub, one for gap filling, can be susceptible to frost though I have had one and had no trouble for 10+ years even with hard frosts.

Tamarisk, for foliage contrast.

Spirea, good show of tiny flowers and a bee attraction.

Olearia (Varigated) For foliage.

Hypricum (St Johns Wort) Bright yellow flowers

Fuschia (Hardy)

There are many many more which are available, best is when at the nurseries is to look at the label, or take a good shrub book with you to see what the plants expected sizes will be after say 5 or 10 years. A good little reference is Tree & Shrub Expert by Dr. D.G. Hessayon.

And of course those already mentioned if your soil is acidic, Azaleas and Rhododendrons

Contrasting dot plants could be heathers and dwarf conifers etc. or tubs and troughs of herbs which can be used in the kitchen, culinary herbs.

Options are endless I guess!

[johnholmes]

very sensible comments there Snowbear re how things grow.

[SP1986]

I would definitely recommend Pieris too, great show all year round I have found.

If you want something slightly crazy get a Rhododendron 'sinogrande', They grow huge but you can keep them cut back, the leave are about 1 foot long and 15cm wide. Quite show.

I recommend every garden should have a tree fern, but it really depends on your climate and how much sunlight you get in the garden, perhaps a tree fern would be one for a shady part of the garden where other plant may not thrive as well

[Mark Bayley]

Thanks for your advise people, do you think a small blossom tree would be ok in far corner. The people next door have got a few small trees at the botom of the garden. I could post a picture of it if you like (the garden)

Thanks

Mark

I havn't got any of the right side of the garden

Edited April 10, 2008 by mark bayley

[Osbourne One-Nil]

You do need to be careful with trees near to buildings...particularly modern ones as their foundations will be the minimum depth possible and any shrinkage of the soil due to a tree's water demand could cause subsidence. If you go for a small Malus or Prunus, then try to make sure it's at least 4m from the nearest building, but 5m would be better.

In terms of planting, the best effect would be to plant small sizes (say 2 or 3L pots) in groups of 3 or 5, rather than individual plants and then use larger specimen shrubs as accents. If you simply plant one of everything, it can look a bit haphazard and disjointed. Also, don't forget to get a variety of heights in there with the smallest at the front. Sounds obvious, I know, but you'd be amazed the number of times it's forgotten. Also try to mix herbaceous plants with small shrubs to give yourself a nice variety. It also gives you free plants in the future because most herbaceous plants are easily split...things like Alchemilla mollis. Herbaceous shrubs also have the bonus of not outgrowing their space as they die back each year. They might spread, but they won't look stupidly big.

[SP1986]

Yes OON does make a good point. To add to that make sure you know with Rhododendron what you are getting yourself in for. I think Rhododendron are high sensitive to small changes in the environment, but they are mostly fully hardy.

I've had a problem recently, I planted a tender sub-tropical Azalea about a month ago and now it's romping away very fast - it's growing so fast that I may have to pot it up.

Slow growing stuff is an idea for the ground, but if you want rapidly growing shrubs such as Rhododendron, Laurus nobilis, and English laurel I would put them in pots to restrict their spread.

[Somerset Squall]

I only have basic knowledge but here are a few ideas (some i have in my garden):

Cherry trees are pretty good, you have to be careful with size though, most are suited to the largest gardens. There are smaller specimens out there though. Forsythia is a very good blossoming bush, really attractive, small yellow flowers around this time of year. Laburnam is also very good, you can get yellow, blue (rare) and pink variaties but these are quite large too (I'm lucky enough to have one which seems to be a very strange tree with all three colours on one tree which I have never seen before). Magnolias are pretty good with plenty of different types about but a definite no-no if you don't have acidic soil, despite what some descriptions might say. I have learnt the hard way that they are indeed fussy on soil type. You also have to be careful with Rhododendrons, I don't now if you have acidic soil but these bushes are also intolerant of soil of any other type (they are good for pots though to overcome this problem). Hydrangea (sp) are also very nice and don't take much care either other than dead-heading the flowers.

Just a few trees/shrubs there that I can think of. And please someone let me know if I have posted any incorrect info here, as I say my knowledge is pretty basic.

[Turnedoutniceagain]

I given up planting trees & shrubs, bl**dy muntjacs eat the lot in 2 mins flat

Edited April 24, 2008 by Turnedoutniceagain

[Mark Bayley]

Thanks for advise people, were going out on Saturday to get some shubs and trees

[Greyowl]

Not sure if anyone has mentioned Hebes Mark. You can get quite a few different coloured flowers. Ribes are a nice tree. Flowers look like Raspberries.

[disco-barry]

Thanks for all the above info as i'm in a similar situation where the grass is just growing through, i mainly want the borders to hold back the blackberries and nettles above the garden....something to sap the water as i'll neve be able to get rid of the acres of blackberries surrounding the garden.