What trees to plant inside a new boundary wall

Jane98

I've just built a 100 foot wall at the back of my house and would like to block out the view from the fairly busy road behind and noise if possible so wondering what trees I could plant in front of it. I ideally I would like something that will progress in a couple of years and have a bit of colour.

I don't want anything that needs major looking after as I just don't have the time and nothing with roots that will damage the wall.

Any suggestions greatly appreciated.

Jane98

Anyone?

rje66

Jane98 wrote: »

Anyone?

Hi Jane,
Can you give a bit more info on site, rural,city, coastal, are you over looked, good views or bad views, windy, formal type hedge or natural type, how big is the garden etc

Jane98

rje66 wrote: »

Hi Jane,
Can you give a bit more info on site, rural,city, coastal, are you over looked, good views or bad views, windy, formal type hedge or natural type, how big is the garden etc

Hiya,

It is a city location but sizeable garden for city. It's approx. 100feet wide by 100feet long. Behind the newly built wall is a pretty busy minor road and behind that are shops so we would like to block out the view and noise level if possible.

I think I would prefer trees to a hedge as the hedge will have to grow to a significant height to block out view and then that would be awkward and costly to maintain.

Sonnenblumen

So you're looking for a screening tree which grows shorter than a hedge and requiring less maintenance than a hedge? What is your preferred mature height and what depth of planting.

PS never a good idea to plant near or too close to a wall. Bad for wall and/or planting. Would suggest planting no nearer than 2m.

Ps there are plenty of shrubs which have a reasonable mature height and spread and if given the space to fully develop will require little or no maintenance.

Like the other poster mentioned, there are a number of factors to be considered before simply making a selection.

pwurple

How high do want this to get to?

A row of cherry blossoms would be absolutely stunning, give great interest in spring when they are in full flower, and autumn when they have fantastic colourful leaves. Winter would give you the sillouettes of the bare trees, which look even better when frosty. No maintenance required really (unless you need to rake leaves instead of leaving them break down. They are not the tallest of trees. I've some mature ones, they are about 4-5m tall. Perfectly suited to city growing, roots are not damaging, they are often used in urban contexts.




You didn't specify if you wanted evergreen or not either. Everygreen is just going to be a blank wall of green all year round, unless you go for beech, which will change to brown in winter. But even that needs clipping and maintenance to keep it in shape.

If I were you, I'd have a look on google images for tree avenues... and see what shape of tree you want.
https://www.google.ie/search?q=tree+avenue&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=Cq6zVMr1Gor5yQSmq4HgDA&ved=0CCIQsAQ&biw=1680&bih=965


You could get very productive with it if you are into food, and do a row of crabapple trees, or walnuts. Hazel might be a bit low... It's hard to know as you haven't specified a height.

rje66

Jane98 wrote: »

Hiya,

It is a city location but sizeable garden for city. It's approx. 100feet wide by 100feet long. Behind the newly built wall is a pretty busy minor road and behind that are shops so we would like to block out the view and noise level if possible.

I think I would prefer trees to a hedge as the hedge will have to grow to a significant height to block out view and then that would be awkward and costly to maintain.

if you can afford the room, a 2.5-3m wide strip, of a mix of the following should work.
Sorbus -mountain ash
Birch
Crateagus Paul's scarlet- hawthorn
Prunus- cherry
Plenty of others out there.
This will also attract wildlife. It's not evergreen but will thicken up quickly.
Now is the time to plant(till end of March) ,much more cost effective than later in year.where are you based?

Jane98

rje66 wrote: »

if you can afford the room, a 2.5-3m wide strip, of a mix of the following should work.
Sorbus -mountain ash
Birch
Crateagus Paul's scarlet- hawthorn
Prunus- cherry
Plenty of others out there.
This will also attract wildlife. It's not evergreen but will thicken up quickly.
Now is the time to plant(till end of March) ,much more cost effective than later in year.where are you based?

Thanks, I'm in Limerick.

Anything 5 or 6m would be fine. There were previously 3 poplar trees there which had become unstable and it cost us a fortune to get them cut down as they were heading for 100 foot so don't want to get into that situation again.

macraignil

There is a good range of young trees from future forest in west Cork. Some varieties I would like to try myself that could be used in your situation include:
Amelanchier canadensis, Cercis silequestrum, Cercis canadensis, Embotherium coccinium, Euonymus alatus, Feijoa sellowiana, Luma apiculate, Magnolia soulangaena, Malus sylvestris, Syringe vulgaris, Sambucus nigra and Sorbus aria

and I have already planted Amelanchier lamarckii, Prunus subhirtella autumnalis rosea, Olearia haastii and Liquidamber styraciflua and find they are doing well so far. With some variety in what you plant there could be colour and interest in your grove of trees all year round.

rje66

Have a look here
www.annaveigh.com. based in cashel.

Andy-Pandy

Cherry trees root system damages walls and driveways, that's why they are not used that much anymore. Sorbus (rowan) are a better alternative, hup. Great for year round interest as they have flowers, berries and interesting foliage. If it was me I'd plant some maples (liquidambar) they look so good in autumn.

Jane98

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

Cherry trees root system damages walls and driveways, that's why they are not used that much anymore. Sorbus (rowan) are a better alternative, hup. Great for year round interest as they have flowers, berries and interesting foliage. If it was me I'd plant some maples (liquidambar) they look so good in autumn.

Thanks Andy-Pandy. I love the look of both of those trees.

Andy-Pandy

No problem, be careful of the liquidamber. There are a few different types and some are more suitable than others. As someone above has said have a look at future forests in Cork, they will ship if needed, great plantsmen who will answer any questions you have.

Jane98

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

No problem, be careful of the liquidamber. There are a few different types and some are more suitable than others. As someone above has said have a look at future forests in Cork, they will ship if needed, great plantsmen who will answer any questions you have.

Thanks. I've actually used them before. I bought loads of hedging which turned out to be great quality.
Which liquidamber should I be looking for?

Jane98

macraignil wrote: »

There is a good range of young trees from future forest in west Cork. Some varieties I would like to try myself that could be used in your situation include:
Amelanchier canadensis, Cercis silequestrum, Cercis canadensis, Embotherium coccinium, Euonymus alatus, Feijoa sellowiana, Luma apiculate, Magnolia soulangaena, Malus sylvestris, Syringe vulgaris, Sambucus nigra and Sorbus aria

and I have already planted Amelanchier lamarckii, Prunus subhirtella autumnalis rosea, Olearia haastii and Liquidamber styraciflua and find they are doing well so far. With some variety in what you plant there could be colour and interest in your grove of trees all year round.

Thanks. Googled these and love the look of some of them.

Sonnenblumen

Andy-Pandy wrote: »

Cherry trees root system damages walls and driveways, that's why they are not used that much anymore. Sorbus (rowan) are a better alternative, hup. Great for year round interest as they have flowers, berries and interesting foliage. If it was me I'd plant some maples (liquidambar) they look so good in autumn.

I agree Liquidambers look good in Autumn ( for about 2 -3 weeks) but I would hardly see it as a compelling reason to plant one? I have one in my own garden but I have trained it. Plenty of other options with more compelling case than Liquidamber.

OP - all trees are a potential risk, some are utterly unsuitable, some are more problematic than others etc. Selection criteria is very much a function of site and available growing conditions. Usually problems arise when owners make the wrong decision (ie poor tree/site selections).

Niall_daaS

Regarding the description I'd recommend trees with slender crowns and deep-rooting (to avoid problems with the wall and the road situation). The already mentioned Sorbus aucuparia (look for the variety 'Edulis') is one of my favorits I always recommend to customers as well as several Crataegus like laev. 'Paul Scarlet' or C. monogyna (both planted together look great with ther red and white blossoms). For autumn colors Liquidambar is a great choice. It's mostly the variety 'Worplesdon' that is planted, better would be 'Paarl' because it seems to be more hardy. Another alternative might be Acer rubrum 'Scanlon' with it's red autumn colors. But I'm not sure about the root system here. Please think that Liquidambar and Acer grow over 10 m. All those trees are very easy to maintain and prices should be reasonable for none of them is very rare.

Niall_daaS

Would like to add Prunus serr. 'Amanogawa', a columnar tree with a very slender crown and great early blossoms.

And stay away from the wall for at least 2 m. Someone mentioned that before and I would stress that this is a good advice.

The Garden Shop

Hi Jane
Liquidamber Lamarkii is the most common variety

I would avoid planting Cherries near a wall as their roots can become an issue

pwurple

Just to follow up, cherries are the whole Prunus family... I think they are about the height you want. Some of the sorbus also good.

And the 2m distance from the wall should avoid any root issues with any small tree.

Just avoid eucalyptus and leylandii!

rje66

The Garden Shop wrote: »

Hi Jane
Liquidamber Lamarkii is the most common variety

I would avoid planting Cherries near a wall as their roots can become an issue

Amelanchier lamarkii, maybe!!!???

wildlifeboy

I have planted copper beech along a wall about 18 inchs away from it. am i in for trouble?

Niall_daaS

wildlifeboy wrote: »

I have planted copper beech along a wall about 18 inchs away from it. am i in for trouble?

Not immediatly, but in years anyway.

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