When to plant garden tree?

learnerplates

Can I plant garden trees now (October) ?

Silver birch or apple trees.


I'm looking for a tree which is suitable for a semi detached house, front and back garden.
If I could plant more than one side by side for the front garden then that would be great.

redser7

Yes. Now is ideal

Oldtree

how big are the areas involved? Are you in a rush?

Mid winter on a day that the ground is not frozen would be the best time to plant a bear root tree.

Potted trees can be planted any time but will not do as well (generally) as a bare root, esp in the long term. Bare root trees will be cheaper and require less maintainance. With bear root trees the quality of the tree can be assessed from head to toe.

Birch can get very tall so care would need to be taken with where you plant one of those. My favourite would be a Jackmontii lovely white bark

Apples are lovely with the flowers followed by the fruit and can be pruned to shape and size without any problems, so suitable for most sites. Taste the apple before buying so you know what you are going to get. There are many different apple trees available online during the winter that can be posted to you including some irish varieties, that way you are not confined to the stock in a local nursery.

Spoil yourself (all good quality suppliers)

Seed savers do apple tasting sessions till mid October:
http://store.irishseedsavers.ie/Organic_Fruit_Trees_s/42.htm

http://www.futureforests.net/br_fruit.htm

or ring Andy here in the west
http://www.fruitandnut.ie/fruit.html

learnerplates

'Jackmontii' very nice and looks like it could live with a partner.

Apple trees too, I'll contact Andy.

The front garden is small, 10ft x 20ft.
The rear is 4 times that, 40ft x 60ft.
Currently nothing in them only lawn.

rje66

wait a few weeks and its bare root season, trees are a lot cheaper then.

The Garden Shop

The Traditional planting season starts at the end of October
So Novemeber 1st is the best time to go shopping for trees and bare root hedging plants

Small garden Trees:
Amelanchier lamarckii
Euonymus europaeus
Sorbus aucuparia
Liquidamber
Japanesse Maples
Cherry Blossoms
Malus (apples)

Oldtree

have a look here too:

http://apps.rhs.org.uk/AdviceSearch/Profile.aspx?pid=117

If you plant the birch make sure to plant it well away from buildings drains etc and that it will not block your neighbours light and cause problems later on.

If you can buy the plants early in the season thus getting the best of the stock and you can" heal it in" (temp hole) at home till you are ready to plant out properly.

Usually it is better to the eye to plant in threes, with sufficient growing space between them.

Do not rush in to this as you will have to live with what you do and you have all the time in the world to make something that you will love. my advice would be to make out a plan of sorts to start with and the plant the trees and hedging and then lay out th beds. If you are a beginner then go to the nursery every month to see what plants are in flower at that time that you like or during the winter to see what colour bark or evergreen may take your fancy, giving you year round interest in your garden. If something dosn't work out then it is a planting opportunity for something else.

these are a good read/watch: (or any of Geoff's books)

http://www.amazon.com/Geoff-Hamiltons-Cottage-Gardens-Hamilton/dp/0563383488
http://www.bbcshop.com/home+garden/the-geoff-hamilton-collection-dvd/invt/bbcdvd2449

You can buy shrubs bare root in the winter too.

redser7

Some good information for you here too ...
http://nickykylegardening.com/blog/95-the-orchard-and-fruit-garden-in-october

learnerplates

Planning yes I think that's a good idea. I wonder how much a landscaper would charge to have a look at the garden. I'l make some enquiries tomorrow. Only a few of the right trees and shrubs in the right places would make a big difference.

Great to see that we're approaching the right time of year.

Oldtree

learnerplates wrote: »

Planning yes I think that's a good idea. I wonder how much a landscaper would charge to have a look at the garden. I'l make some enquiries tomorrow. Only a few of the right trees and shrubs in the right places would make a big difference.

Great to see that we're approaching the right time of year.

Landscaping is not cheap and your garden will then be full of someone else's ideas, a good question to ask a landscaper is "do you have a mature garden and can I see a few photos?"

Sonnenblumen

Oldtree wrote: »

how big are the areas involved? Are you in a rush?

Mid winter on a day that the ground is not frozen would be the best time to plant a bear root tree.

Potted trees can be planted any time but will not do as well (generally) as a bare root, esp in the long term. Bare root trees will be cheaper and require less maintenance. With bear root trees the quality of the tree can be assessed from head to toe.

Any unsold bare-roots often end up potted on so I don't think you can make such a claim.

There is also a considerable failure rate amongst bare-root trees and all trees require maintenance during the growing season and newly planted bare roots should be staked.

OP there are also rootballed trees available.

Some nice trees especially for smaller gardens include Malus, Sorbus acuparia 'Autumn Spire' and Amelanchier.

If you are interested, espalier fruit (apple or pear) trees are also excellent for growing in small spaces or against a wall.

Sonnenblumen

Oldtree wrote: »

Landscaping is not cheap and your garden will then be full of someone else's ideas

What a perverse attitude of seeking ways to improve things:o

Making mistakes is always expensive.