21. Tree Planting

Stage 2 of the garden plan is to plant trees along the boundary in two places. The garden is overlooked by neighbours, in spite of the high walls, so the objective is to provide more privacy but without adding much additional shade to the garden.

The trees will be planted along the north and north-east boundary walls, which will not block sun to the garden.

The selection of the trees is important for small space gardening: They need to be appropriate size-wise but also very decorative. Every plant has to justify its place in the garden.

I use Burncoose Nurseries in Cornwall, and Frank Matthews in Malvern to source and supply trees for me. Both have an excellent range, supply very good quality plants and deliver them in good condition.

The planting along the back boundary of the Walled Garden will be a row of Himalayan Silver Birch Trees (Betula utilis jacquemontii 'Snow Queen'). They are a favourite of mine. The bark is a bright silver white, and the crown with its small, fine leaves is narrower than other silver birch varieties. I have seen them used successfully as privacy screening in city gardens where they cast a very light dappled shade, and allow for further planting behind and beneath them. The trees are a lot cheaper if you buy them young, but they must be staked, and it will take a couple of years for that beautiful silver bark to develop. They are well worth the wait.

The second row of trees will be planted at a right angle to the silver birches, along the top section of the west boundary wall. I chose a selection of ornamental cherry trees for this section, varieties with good height but a small footprint, and a lovely display of blossom from March through to May.

The planting will be slightly staggered, so that the trees are all in the sight line as you enter the property :

• The first section will be a closely planted row of 4 x Prunus Amanogawa, a very narrow tree that can grow to 4m high with pale pink blossom in April.

• The second section will have two wider trees, set back a little further from the wall.

  • The first is Prunus Okame, a shorter 2.5m high x 2.5m diameter tree with bright shell pink flowers in March. It produces a mass of small black cherries, inedible for humans but very popular with the birds.

  • The second is Prunus Collingwood Ingram, a deep pink April flowering variety named for Collingwood “Cherry” Ingram, a famous English plant collector and cherry tree specialist who is credited with saving the Japanese cherry trees. His biography is worth reading: “Cherry Ingram: the Englishman who saved Japan’s blossoms”.

It will take a lot of heavy lifting to get these trees planted - I will need Graham the Gardener’s help with them. And I will need masses of bark mulch to keep the base of the trees clear and protected from the weeds. They will need almost daily watering for the first season, until their roots are established.