the best tree in the garden

[nightshade]

There are some really nice trees that are only obtainable from specialist nurseries today many people are not aware that these trees were once fairly common;
Strawberry tree
wayfarers tree
spindle
walnut
judas tree
box
mulberry
There are specialist fruit-tree nurseries with some of the Old English apple varieties,like the prolific Beauty of Bath with its apples to share habit of carpeting the lawn with fallers for the butterflies hedgehogs and birds
well worth a place in a wildlife garden

[Kayleigh]

I have just planted a Goat Willow the native (pussy willow). The catkins are attractive to bees in the day and moths at night which will also attract bats with a bit of luck..

[Walwyn]

Originally Posted by nightshade

There are specialist fruit-tree nurseries with some of the Old English apple varieties,like the prolific Beauty of Bath with its apples to share habit of carpeting the lawn with fallers for the butterflies hedgehogs and birds
well worth a place in a wildlife garden

Some nurseries advertise cuttings from the trees that were grafted from the "Flower of Kent" apple that grew in Newton's garden at Woolsthorpe Manor in Lincolnshire (original died 1814). As grafting is a vegetative process I guess these essentially be considered the same tree.

OTOH I don't think you can find a named variety of English Walnut nowadays.

[Alan]

Originally Posted by Kayleigh

I have just planted a Goat Willow the native (pussy willow). The catkins are attractive to bees in the day and moths at night which will also attract bats with a bit of luck..

Kayleigh, hope you've planted it away from drains, water pipes etc. As willows' root systems are notorious for seeking out and damaging these!

[Tinkerbell]

Probably an apple tree for me - whatever, as long as the branches are low and strong enough for a child to climb. The world takes on a new meaning when you are up a tree and 'hidden' from adults.

[nightshade]

Saw a ginko biloba tree(on TV) today a very attractive small tree,a good specimen tree for a small garden

[henrya]

Quote
OTOH I don't think you can find a named variety of English Walnut nowadays
Endquote

December 2005 Gardener's World magazine mentions
Broadview
Buccaneer
Rita
Plovdivski
and Ploslavski
and says a range of varieties is available from

www.grafted-walnuts.co.uk
or
www.keepers-nursery.co.uk

henrya

[Tursiops]

Originally Posted by nightshade

Saw a ginko biloba tree(on TV) today a very attractive small tree,a good specimen tree for a small garden

I disagree. Attractive, yes, but Ginkgo can grow to quite a size, often multi-stemmed. I wouldn't recommend it for a small garden at all. It also has minimal wildlife value.
T

[Walwyn]

Originally Posted by henrya

Broadview
Buccaneer
Rita
Plovdivski
and Ploslavski
and says a range of varieties is available from

Yep that's what I thought

Broadview - British Columbia
Buccaneer - Netherlands
Rita - Carpathia
Plovdivski - Bulgaria
Ploslavski - Bulgaria

There were never many named varieties of UK origin, but what there were seem to have gone.

[henrya]

Quote
Yep that's what I thought

Broadview - British Columbia
Buccaneer - Netherlands
Rita - Carpathia
Plovdivski - Bulgaria
Ploslavski - Bulgaria

There were never many named varieties of UK origin, but what there were seem to have gone.
Endquote

But these are all Juglans regia, aren't they?, which is what I took you to mean when you said "English Walnut". You didn't say "walnut varieties of UK origin"

Quote
There were never many named varieties of UK origin, but what there were seem to have gone
Endquote

That's a shame - but there must be some old trees about (unless the furniture people have got them all). Maybe the old varieties could be resurrected - do you know how to recognise them?

henrya