Is this beech

CarPark2

I found what I assumed to be beech saplings in the garden last year.
I transplanted them to pots and then this spring I sowed them in a hedge formation. They are growing like crazy, from quite small to about 4 feet since the spring. Some work colleagues were talking about knotweed recently and then I got paranoid, wondering if I had inadvertently sown knotweed near our house.

Can anybody take a look at the attached photo and confirm that it is beech?
Thanks

looksee

Looks more like hornbeam to me, makes a nice hedge. It is absolutely not knotweed.

Suckit

I'm not a big gardener, but I have a beech tree out out back (it grew quite fast too), but I'm pretty sure it doesn't have white underside to the leaves like the leaves in the picture.

CarPark2

looksee wrote: »

Looks more like hornbeam to me, makes a nice hedge. It is absolutely not knotweed.

That’s great news. As it happens, we have very heavy soil. I had never heard of hornbeam before, but from looking online, it looks like Hornbeam is much better suited to that soil type.

mountainy man

It looks like something in the Whitebeam family to me (sorbus).

Lumen

mountainy man wrote: »

It looks like something in the Whitebeam family to me (sorbus).

Looks too pointy for whitebeam.

Also vaguely like alder, but not the native shape so unlikely.

looksee

mountainy man wrote: »

It looks like something in the Whitebeam family to me (sorbus).

The leaf shape looks more like hornbeam to me, but I agree that the light colour leaf backs look like whitebeam. Its easier to identify hornbeam in the spring when the leaves are just unfolding in those very crisp folds that they have.

In due course the berries/catkins will identify which it is.

CarPark2

Thanks to all. I took the photo at night using the flash and i think that it may have overemphasised the colour of the back of the leaves. They are not really as white as they showed up in that photo. I will try to get another photo in natural light this evening.

The Gardener

I'd say it's Alnus incana or "Grey Alder", they would grow fairly fast as you described.

CarPark2

I attach two photos here. One to show the whole plant and the other a close up of a leaf. Some of the leaves are really big - see €2 for scale.
Thanks for all the input.

looksee

I think you have two different trees there, one on the left with the rounder leaves of maybe alder and the other, the bigger one has the pointed leaves of (imo) hornbeam.

CarPark2

looksee wrote: »

I think you have two different trees there, one on the left with the rounder leaves of maybe alder and the other, the bigger one has the pointed leaves of (imo) hornbeam.

Thanks. Most of the hedge is like the one on the right. The one on the left is a bit different. Will alder grow ok in a hedge?
I guess that’s what you get when you pick wild growing saplings as opposed to buying commercially!!

baaba maal

CarPark2 wrote: »

Thanks. Most of the hedge is like the one on the right. The one on the left is a bit different. Will alder grow ok in a hedge?
I guess that’s what you get when you pick wild growing saplings as opposed to buying commercially!!

I've never done it, but personally I wouldn't plant alder into a hedge- in my experience it would be too vigorous. They do make a nice tree though! They love wet ground so if you have a spot or know somebody with some wet ground they might take it. A good wildlife tree.

Hocus Focus

baaba maal wrote: »

I've never done it, but personally I wouldn't plant alder into a hedge- in my experience it would be too vigorous. They do make a nice tree though! They love wet ground so if you have a spot or know somebody with some wet ground they might take it. A good wildlife tree.

Are you sure you're not confusing Alder with Elder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus
The former is recommended as a hedging plant and stand-alone tree, whereas the latter grows in hedgerows and is quite vigorous and invasive.

baaba maal

Hocus Focus wrote: »

Are you sure you're not confusing Alder with Elder.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alder
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sambucus
The former is recommended as a hedging plant and stand-alone tree, whereas the latter grows in hedgerows and is quite vigorous and invasive.

Ah no, I am familiar with the two of them! I personally think alder would be too vigorous grown as a hedging plant- absolutely fine as a standard tree growing through a hedge, but for me, beech is clippable over the long term, but alder branches get thick very quickly and would need a lot more effort to keep them in shape.

I am only too aware of elder!!