Tree for lawn

xl500

Good morning all

That time of year again

I am looking for some help I have an old apple tree in center of lawn that I am removing it's very sick

I want to replace it with a small ornamental tree but not sure which one was considering cherry but they are very short flowering then not much if you only had one ornamental tree in your garden which would it be

Thanks for help

Xl500

Furze99

Japanese Maple I think called are nice, neighbour has a kinda weeping birch which swishes in the breeze and always looks nice, even in winter.

magicbastarder

speaking as an amateur woodturner - if the apple tree is not rotten, it may be of use to someone who works with wood.

we have a nice acer - japanese maple - in our garden, as Furze99 suggests. goes a lovely colour in the autumn, but it's not a tree that develops blossoms, if that is something you'd like.

Reckless Abandonment

Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy"

Spring flowers

Heart shaped leaves

And autumn colour.

Or Japanese maple sango kaku

But have to say cercis would be my top pick

Bass Reeves

From ecology point of view we should be planting native trees to support Bees and insects.

A native tree will support 400+ different life forms, a non native will support 20 ish.

Think of a whitethorn fabulous flowering period in May or a crab apple.

looksee

Japanese Maple are lovely, but need a sheltered site.

You are going to have a lot of work taking out the apple roots (unless you have a professional firm doing it for you), you will need some fresh soil both to fill the hole and refresh what is there. To avoid passing on disease, don't plant anything called Malus which is the apple and crab-apple family, I think I would avoid Prunus (cherries mostly) as well. If the tree has scab there are a number of other trees it could affect.

magicbastarder

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120282569#Comment_120282569

this is true, but worth mentioning that it's usually the likes of a geriatric oak which would support that range of life!

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120282616#Comment_120282616

Whitethorn is one of the big four along with Oak willow and birch that support the most invertebrate lifeforms. Below are a list of native trees.

https://www.treecouncil.ie/native-irish-trees

Whitethorn is an apex biodiversity tree. It's a top pollinator as it flowers for an extended period in late spring. It's also provides berries in autumn for small birds.

Crab apple is good as well as are the native cherry or gelder Rose etc.

magicbastarder

i'd also suggest - and this is based on the size of the lawn - that it might be nicer to plant a cluster of three trees, rather than planting a single one?

A2LUE42

https://www.newlands.ie/shop/products/plants/trees/trees-suitable-for-small-gardens/pyrus-salicifolia-pendula-10l.html

Ornamental pear? Link is to show pic and some info on the tree.

SuperBowserWorld

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120282835#Comment_120282835

Thanks for that link. Very nice and informative.

macraignil

If you would like to have a cherry but would also like some more lasting colour impact then maybe a black cherry plum might be worth considering as it has nice purple leaf colour for a lot of the year after the blooms (which are out now) are finished. I have three of the normal leaf colour cherry plum and its white flowers look really good at the moment.

If I had to pick one ornamental tree it would be the Japanese zelkova but the full grown size is not small.

Happy gardening.

xl500

Thanks for all the replys lots of options

I am tempted by Cornus Kousa Chinensis its a Dogwood

Any thoughts on this its to go in a Lawn as a specimen from reading about them it seems a great option as well as the ones mentioned

thanks again

xl500

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120286369#Comment_120286369

It's a beauty and the fruit is edible. One planted here 40 years ago and very compact and manageable.

ttnov77

Amelanchiers are also great for pollinators and birds with edible berries

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120292020#Comment_120292020

It would not be in the same league as a white thorn or some of the other native small trees and would not be of any advantage to native invertebrates.

macraignil

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120292133#Comment_120292133

I agree a whitethorn would probably be more supportive of our native wildlife. I don't agree with the statement that Amelanchier would not be of any advantage to native invertebrates. The amelanchier has a good number of early season flowers and I have seen them being used by bees in my own garden. The berries are also popular with the birds here. Studies have shown that flowers do not have to be native to be used by pollinator insects. I think variety in the garden and having flowers over as wide a period over the year as possible are the most important factors for supporting pollinators.

Happy gardening!

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120292197#Comment_120292197

It is okish for poliinators or birds. However whitethorn is an apex biodiversity plant it supports 300 different invertebrates while any non native ones only support 20 ish at best.

Water John

Rowan, mountain ash.

ttnov77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120292133#Comment_120292133

Yes you are right in terms of biodiversity, and just to be clear I love hawthorn and planted hundreds of them. However they are great as hedging, not as stand alone tree in the middle of small garden, where there probably need to be lawn mown around it. It will be very hard to manage and walk around those thorns...

looksee

I have had a hawthorn as a stand alone tree (many years ago, the people who bought the house chopped down every tree in the garden, and there were a lot) and it was fine. You keep the trunk clear of branches up to about 6 ft and its not a problem. I have also seen them used in a similar way on housing estate road sides. They can be a bit susceptible to rust.

mikep

A spindle would be nice also. Has lots of red/pink berries in Autumn.

As someone already mentioned a mountain ash would be great also.

I'm with the suggestions for native species to help biodiversity

Or else maybe wait till later in the year and get a native apple from Irish Seed Savers Association

https://irishseedsavers.ie

looksee

As I said earlier, don't put an apple into the same place you have just taken out an old and diseased apple.

ttnov77

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120293939#Comment_120293939

With mature tree you can take off bottom branches but with new sapling that will need to grow to that heigh first and all the branches will be required to feed the growth of young tree. You might buy mature one but that would probably cost small fortune.

It also depends on position, old hawthorn near wall is different that in the middle of the garden. It would be lovely but how practical it is only the garden owner must know depending how they use the garden. I have small garden all planted up with greenhouse, fruit trees, veg beds, small pond and flower borders so it wouldn’t be practical for me as there is very limited space.

looksee

With mature tree you can take off bottom branches but with new sapling that will need to grow to that heigh first and all the branches will be required to feed the growth of young tree.

Yes that is true. I have taken large branches off the bottom of a holly also, a large mature bush, and turned it into a much more manageable tree.

Bass Reeves

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120300399#Comment_120300399

However when the tree is growing the lower branches tend to grow up as much as out. A good idea is to use a tree growing tube. This forces the tree to grow upright ( to the light) faster. It would mean the first three feet have no branches. Then keep pruned

Pat_b

One ornamental tree is a tough call :D Ive recently decided my ornamental tree was going to be a sassafras as something quite unusual but it hasn't quite grown enough to say how good a call that's going to be.

I know someone who has a paperbark maple and its a absolutely stunning tree for ornamental purposes.

Personally I like the unusual trees but there's a strong case for biodiversity to use a native tree for ornamental purposes. I do like your cherry idea they are short flowering but remember they also have lovely autumn colors.

xl500

Thanks very much everybody for all the suggestions I actually went with an Acer Griseum Paperbark Maple hopefully it turns out to be a good choice

xl500

xl500

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306068#Comment_120306068

Thanks for that I actually went with a paperbark maple expensive but hopefully worth it

Pat_b

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120306149#Comment_120306149

oh yeah I cant see you being disappointed with that one