To tree or not to tree

As many reasons as I can think of to plant trees - If you come up with anymore please comment below or Tweet me @TheTreeNursery.

1. Trees offer a habitat and food for a diverse selection of wildlife from creepy crawlies to badgers, birds and squirrels.
2. Wonderful for screening or creating a windbreak
3. Tree hugging
4. Trees are the lungs of the world and a great way to mop up your carbon footprint
5. If home grown is how you like your grub then trees offer a massive array of fruits from popular apples to the more unusual medlar, mirabelle or quince
6. With a huge choice of foliage and flower colours there is a tree to suit most schemes
7. Something for the dog to cock his leg against
8. Ideal to soak up moisture in an over-wet garden
9. Even small spaces can fit a tree with some growing to just 2 meters
10. Trees can be grown for firewood or coppiced for their fine bark such as willows that are used for weaving
11. A natural way to create shade in the garden
12. Great for kids to collect autumn leaves and take bark rubbings
13. Perfect to stabilise soil on slopes
14. Aesthetically pleasing
15. Wine making - birch sap wine is said to be rather potent!

Phew! Anymore?

Make me a willow cabin at your gate...

Later this month I am off to see 'Twelth Night' being staged at The Living Willow Theatre in mid-Wales. The theatre is a down sized version of The Globe Theatre in London and (surprise, surprise) is constructed of living willow.

This is very apt as in 'Twelth Night' Viola's speech to Olivia begins 'Make me a willow cabin at your gate...' (Act 1, Scene 5).

Willow (Salix) is often a graceful tree and available in many different varieties.

S. alba 'Britzensis' boasts red and orange stems.

S. babylonica 'Tortuosa' has beautiful twisted green branches and foliage

S. integra 'Flamingo' is a very small tree will lovely green, white and pink mottled foliage.

Willows do prefer a moist ground and are often planted next to rivers or streams. Many will tolerate clay and some exposure. The Salix family offers wonderful variety with trees ranging from a 20 year height of 2.5m to a much larger 10m height. The bark can be yellow, orange, red, green or purple and is often used in weaving.

A great selection for winter interest and popular with wildlife.

To see more visit http://www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/

Sue

Paradisaical Pinks

See below my top picks for paradisaical pinks!

Enkianthus campanulatus - Little bell shaped flowers hang en masse under the branches of this medium sized shrub. The flowers are cream with a dusky, antique-pink edge and pinstripes. Lovely architectural shrub with brilliant autumn colour too!

Acer palmatum 'Oridono-nishiki' - Gorgeous cream, pink and green young foliage emerges in spring. The pretty leaves of this Japanese maple keep their pink hue into the summer.

Sorbus vilmorinii - lovely rowan tree with pink and white marbled berries that hang onto bare branches in heavy clusters well into the winter. A beautiful, striking rose pink against dark green foliage with a greyish sheen.

Prunus 'Shirofugen' - Double candyfloss pink flowers droop on the long flower stems of this flowering cherry tree. A stunner for spring interest with good autumn colour too!


Crataegus 'Paul Scarlet' - A beautiful small tree this hawthorn boasts bunches of bright pink flowers in May against a foil of dark green foliage. The hawthorn family is very tough so this is an ideal choice for difficult, exposed positions.

For more beautiful pinks see our website www.ornamental-trees.co.uk

Plants for birds

Everybody here at the nursery loves to see wildlife in the garden. From tiny insects to mischievous squirrels or (if your lucky) majestic owls and lively badgers.

Trees and plants form the backbone of a wildlife friendly garden and in this blog I'm going to look at trees for birds.

Birds require a nesting site, shelter and food if they are to prosper in your garden, below I have listed some brilliant trees and shrubs that offer up some of the things that our chirpy friends need.

Food

Sorbus varieties produce masses of red, orange, white or pink berries in the late summer and autumn which not only look great but provide food throughout the winter. Birds prefer the red berries of varieties such as S. commixta 'Embley' or the native S. aucuparia (pictured) but are also most appreciative of the other orange, yellow and pink. White berries are often left alone by the birds so avoid these.

Prunus padus 'Watereri' (Bird cherry) and Prunus avium (Wild cherry) both produce fruits early in the season that birds will seek out.

Cotonester varieties produce masses of red berries that will be gobbled up. Cotoneaster cornubia (pictured) is a particularly nice semi-evergreen variety that produces white flowers which attract bees.

The red berries of yew are a good source of food for thrushes.

Holly carries red berries in the winter that are great for birds.

Any plant that attracts plenty of insects such as buddleja, syringa or cotoneaster will be beneficial to birds in your garden. Birds love bugs!

Shelter and nesting materials

Trees like Betula pendula (birch) provide plenty of fine broken twigs for birds to use as nesting material. Conifers and other evergreen or densely foliaged plants such as Carpinus betulus (hornbeam) which particularly attracts the Hawfinch, will provide wonderful cover for birds. Carpinus betulus (hornbeam) is also home to lots of species of moth which in turn attracts birds. A native hedge is almost unrivaled in its habitat for birds, dense cover and plenty of insects and wild berries to eat.

Most plants will have some positive effect on the biodiversity of your garden so almost anything you can do to introduce more wildlife into the garden will in turn bring the birds your way.

For more on birds why not join;

NaturalEngland, birdinguk, Natures_Voice, gardeners_world and/or The_RHS on twitter.

www.ornamental-trees.co.uk

Field budding

Right now, in high summer, we begin our field budding, which is a form of grafting. At this time the sap is in full flow and the grafts heal quickly. We practice this method of grafting on easily propagated varieties such as apple, pear, cherry and some of our ornamental trees. The field budding should take our highly trained team 3 weeks and 15,000 trees will be grafted.

Red spider mite

The red fruit tree spider mite may be small but it is still certainly a pest!

These little red mites have piercing mouth parts that suck the goodness from leaves from the underneath. Red spider mites are prevellant in our growing tunnels at this time of year so we use biological control methods. Specifically a predator of the red spider mite called Phytoseiulus persimilis.

Farming Ants and Aphids

Customer question:
I have an aphid problem on my eating cherry tree. The problem is not widespread, it is localised to certain areas of the tree. Also, there are quite a few ants around the base of the tree and running up and down the trunk. Are the ants related to the aphids? How can I treat the problem?

Answer:
Aphids secrete a sweet substance called honeydew that is most appealing to an ants appetite. The ants farm the aphids into certain areas of the plant where they can gather the honeydew with ease taking it down the trunk of the tree to their nearby nest. To treat aphids use a general purpose insectiside that can be purchased in most good garden centres.