Replacing a silver birch tree - any suggestions?

[Cheryl]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

Anyway, why's everyone recommending another Birch? They're common enough to not be particularly interesting, fill your gutters up with their seeds, and are quite short lived.

Jim

They are an attractive tree though with their white bark and I like the delicate leaves . The pollen is a bit of a pain though - gets everywhere. We have gone down from 3 trees in our garden to 0 as they get older they become unstable and bits drop off unexpectadly - they were popular with long-tailed tits

Can't recommend anything else from the top of my head - depends upon your soil and the size of your garden.

Jim - you recommended a Service Tree (Sorbus domestica) - don't they grow upto 80ft (25m) tall Although it would probably take some time to get there You can eat the fruit but apparently they're best when they're half rotten I've got a recipie for Chequerberry Beer if any one is deparate to try it LOL!!

[Cheryl]

Originally Posted by ron1863

A Copper Beech I love the colour.

They are lovely arn't they. They're not expected to do very well here in Southern England in the coming years as they're shallow rooted and are experiencing die-back due to global warming - although after this summer and the last couple it seems hard to believe. (Tipping it down yet again as I type )

[fairplay]

The most important question before you do anything else is tell us what type of soil you have i.e. clay, sandy, and the ph value i.e. acidic, calcareous.

Make sure it is a native species and be certain of it's provenance (grown in this country from seed from this country - many trees for sale in nurseries are EEC origin so may come into leaf earlier or later than our own, thereby messing up the insect life and confusing birds like Blue Tits looking for grubs to feed their young.

Neil.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Cheryl

Jim - you recommended a Service Tree (Sorbus domestica) - don't they grow upto 80ft (25m) tall Although it would probably take some time to get there You can eat the fruit but apparently they're best when they're half rotten I've got a recipie for Chequerberry Beer if any one is deparate to try it LOL!!

Sorbus torminalis.

Sorbus torminalis - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stated as a 'medium sized tree'. I consider it as a good candidate because although a native, it's considered 'relatively rare' and has curiosity value.

As you mention 'bletting' another interesting tree worth considering (but not strictly native) is the Medlar

Mespilus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jim

[annmaria]

Hi Jim , shoud we all be planting native trees , are they dwindling
Annmaria

[nightshade]

I have a Rowan, Weeping Birch, Medlar, Black Mulberry, Spindle, Olive, Fig,
Willow, Crab Apple, Budlia, Golden Lilac and Twisty Hazel.
I always had a fancy for an apple tree that had Grafts giving three types of apple, cooking and two different dessert apples

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by annmaria

Hi Jim , shoud we all be planting native trees , are they dwindling

It's not so much that they're dwindling, but that to preserve the character of our countryside, we should think twice about planting non-natives.

Jim

[nightshade]

Inverts. are adapted to make the most of our native trees laying eggs to hatch in time with the opening of fresh leaves or ripening of fruits etc. best way to support our wildlife is to plant native plants and trees.

[Meta menardi]

I love Ash trees, I like the bark, the leaves, the weird flowers, the keys, the lot, and the make such an elegant tree. We used to have an ash tree and it was called The Gray Lady by the folks round about.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Meta menardi

We used to have an ash tree and it was called The Gray Lady by the folks round about.

I'd have called it something else! Ash trees are a mega pain. If you've got one within few hundred meters of your garden, you're forever pulling out the wretched seedlings!

IIRC they also have the reputation of shedding branches without warning.

Jim