trees for heavy soil

magicbastarder

a colleague of mine has a house on a large enough site (close to an acre) and was wondering what sort of trees which would be able to do well in the heavy marl-y clay soil?
he'd like to plant ash (he's a kilkenny man) and oak if he can; would these prosper?

Irish Gardener

Ash and oak should be grand.
Also consider...
horse chestnut
Lime
Mountain ash
Flowering cherry
Alder
Birch
Hornbeam
Hawthorn
Sycamore

Demps

Hi Irish Gardener

Would You be able to recommend somewhere in the Midlands where I could get some Horsechestnut trees. I plan to line a driveway with them have checked some nureseries locally and cant seem to see any.

Thanks

charlesanto

Demps wrote:

Hi Irish Gardener

Would You be able to recommend somewhere in the Midlands where I could get some Horsechestnut trees. I plan to line a driveway with them have checked some nureseries locally and cant seem to see any.

Thanks

Cork, but will deliver

Irish Gardener

Demps, lots and lots of nurseries in Kildare, for example http://www.knsp.ie/
I am sure all will deliver if you are planning to line a driveway with a fair quantity of Horsechestnut trees.
If your local nurseries have none at the moment, I will bet they will in autumn, which is a better time for planting the tree as well.
One final tip...... Ensure the variety of Horsechestnut tree you select is not a sterile variety if you wish it to produce conkers.
I'm sure you and all local kids would like to see this first prickly then shiny fruit.

Demps

Excellent info. and advice as always Irish gardener.

On final question (well two actually!) - One of the nurseries in Kildare is looking for the plant name - what would that be for Horse Chestnut or any in particular You would recommend?

Any other trees You would plant on a fairly long driveway

magicbastarder

if you were adventurous, you could try growing your own from conkers. it'd obviously take much longer to achieve the result you're looking for, though.

Irish Gardener

Demps wrote:

Excellent info. and advice as always Irish gardener.

On final question (well two actually!) - One of the nurseries in Kildare is looking for the plant name - what would that be for Horse Chestnut or any in particular You would recommend?

The original....... Aesculus hippocastanum

Demps wrote:

Any other trees You would plant on a fairly long driveway

Well the main attribute the tree should have is its ability to avoid clashing with passing cars or pedestrians.
The avenue tree should ideally have a high head eg. Tillia cordata "Greenspire" (lollypop lime)
or else a tight columnar habit eg. Carpinus betulus "Fastigiata" (columnar hornbeam).