Trees for a new woodland garden...

[WimB]

A bit of a lengthy question but I'm making plans to turn a piece of meadow into a woodland garden and I was wondering which trees I should use. I know a lot of my fellow gardeners here have created such a garden but they came across problems later on, planted them too close or planted trees which gave problems later on (roots too close to the surface and/or forming a thick mat, shade too dense, they get too big,...)

I'd like to benefit from the knowledge gathered here, so I don't run into problems I could have avoided 15 years into the future.

Which trees would you recommend? I really like those with good flowers, nice Autumn colours, nice bark,...or any other you could recommend.

[Maggi Young]

Two of the best smaller trees - in my opinion - Acer griseum and Sorbus casmeriana.  Mind you, all the Sorbus are pretty good -  vilmorinii, hupehensis.....  excellent plants all.

[Maggi Young]

I also like the Cotoneaster bullata  and its like. Not very exciting out of flower and fruit but great for the birds.
I'd avoid anything that could get too big ( I'm assuming you're not converting half of Belgium) like  Acer 'Crimson King'!

[Carolyn]

I was going to suggest the same as Maggi, but add any of the small leaved acers (We have a couple of large leaved sycamores in our garden and the leaves are a nuisance when they fall). Go for small leaves. Amelanchier - so good in spring and autumn. Betula - small leaves, good autumn colour, fantastic bark, BUT lots of roots near the surface. Parrotia persica -lovely autumn colour and unusual shape. Cercidiphyllum- fantastic tree. Fothergilla, another super small tree. So many to choose from, I hope it's a big meadow!

[Gabriela]

I just planted an Amelanchier x grandiflora  but all the serviceberries are great all seasons trees. Also love Acer griseum and seen it in many situations - exquisite.
Cercis comes in small size and has nice cv., including few with colourful foliage like Forest Pansy, The Rising Sun...
I love Davidia involucrata but impossible to find, surely more available in Europe.
Stewartia...

[johnralphcarpenter]

Sorbus thibetica 'John Mitchell' is a lovely tree. It grows in the Queen's garden at Buckingham Palace.

[Hoy]

Gabriela suggests Stewartia and I will add pseudocamellia. I have had it in my garden for several years and it is still small (4-5m). Nice bark too.
You could try a rose like Rosa roxburghii forma normalis. It is more shrublike but get quite tall (4m+) to be a rose and is easily stemmed up. The stem and bark is very different from other roses.

It is also possible to grow Corylus avellana with only one stem or you can choose Corylus colurna which is one-stemmed and with a remarkable bark. Neither with showy flowers though.

What about Arallia spinosa or A. elata? A few suckers but they are easily removed. Nice flowers.

[WimB]

Thanks for the info, ladies and gentlemen.

It's only for 1500 m², so not too many and not too big, (not that planting one big tree would convert half of Belgium, Maggi  only one quarter of it )

Davidia involucrata can be found over here, Gabriela...

I love Cercidiphyllum but I'm not really sure about the rootsystem, does it grow very superficial?

[Rick R.]

I have Amelanchier "Autumn Brilliance" in my garden.  The herbaceous materials do very well under it.  One thing though: the berries are a diaretic for birds.  I love the Cedar Waxwings that come to feed on them, but then they poop all over on the plants below.  The rain washes it off fairly well, but until then you have the white spots on the leaves.  It shows up especially on large leaf plants, like Deinanthe, Peltoboykinia.  And even though the rain washes the white off, the clumps of seeds from the berries remain on the leaves.

Some other choices to think about:
-- Dirca palustris could easily be trained into a tree form.  Growing in the wild here, even in cold Minnesota, I have seen it up to 3 meters high as an open, understory tree.   Usually, it only has one or two stems.  Grown in the open, it will want to be more bushy.   Mine is growing full sun for twelve years and has never suckered.
-- Hamamalis spp.
-- Chionantha spp.
-- Syringa reticulata.  Cultivars tend to be tight growing with dense foliage, but if you get a seedling grown plant, they are often much more open growing and smaller leaves.

[zephirine]

Other suggestions from a zone 7B garden:
- Lonicera maackii. Excellent "umbrella" habit, multi-trunk, moderate size (3m high here), fast growth, roots not really present at the surface. Widely available and not expensive. A good half-shadower here for under-planting (the leaves are scarce enough to let the light go through).
Small scented flowers in may-june.



- Cercis canadensis 'Forest Pansy'. Similar habit and size, but not so cheap or easy to find. Not very fast grower either, but lovely pink blooms in April-May. Purpurescent leaves.

[WimB]

I have Amelanchier "Autumn Brilliance" in my garden.  The herbaceous materials do very well under it.  One thing though: the berries are a diaretic for birds.  I love the Cedar Waxwings that come to feed on them, but then they poop all over on the plants below.  The rain washes it off fairly well, but until then you have the white spots on the leaves.  It shows up especially on large leaf plants, like Deinanthe, Peltoboykinia.  And even though the rain washes the white off, the clumps of seeds from the berries remain on the leaves.

Natural fertiliser! 

[WimB]

Thanks Rick and Zephirine.

[Tristan_He]

I'd definitely plant several Hamamelis, plus also probably its relative Corylopsis. I'd also go with Maggi's suggestion of Acer griseum, though actually a lot of very fine acers are available - A. palmatum or pennsylvanicum for example. Many are quite slow-growing though which may not be so good to get shade initially.

Betula ermannii, B. utilis and B. albosinensis are all very good with lovely bark and catkins. They look good planted in small groups and give a nice light shade. There are some lovely varieties available these days, see for example Stone Lane Gardens.
http://stonelanegardens.com/.

I think a few fruit trees can be very nice and meet the blossom criterion, plus of course you get the fruit as a bonus!

Finally it's worth considering a few native trees that will coppice: hazel; oak; perhaps lime (Tilia) and willows if conditions suit. These are good for wildife and by managing them you can create different patches of light and shade in a way you might not be able to with other species.

[Robert G]

I don't know how available Acer triflorum and Acer manshuricum would be in Europe, but they are fine small trees.

Cercidiphyllum japonicum is such a pretty tree and the scent that is released in the fall is a nice suprise. 

None of these trees appear to have shallow roots and I have seen them successfully underplanted.

[ian mcdonald]

Hello Wim, have you considered native trees from your own area? Also, instead of converting your meadow into a woodland you could have both by planting trees a good distance apart around the meadow and underplanting with bulbs and perennials. This kind of habitat was called "wood pasture" in the UK many years ago.