Specimen Trees
Specimen trees are trees which are highly ornamental which are used to create a focal point for your garden. When selecting specimen trees it is extremely important that you understand all aspects of the chosen tree. You will need to know how large the tree will grow and how long it will take to reach that size. You will need to know if the chosen species of tree is suited to your area, is it tolerant of wind, is it able to survive in coastal areas, does it grow well in wet ground, does it grow well in dry land in direct sunlight and various other things specific to your area.
One of the best ways in which to find out which trees grow best in your area is to pay a visit to any municipal parks and gardens and see which trees are growing best. Such gardens are usually cared for by a large number of gardeners so it is difficult to assess how much work a particular tree may be. Also one type of tree may look spectacular in a large park but it may be too big for a normal household’s residential garden. To get a rough idea of which trees are most suitable for use as specimen trees in you immediate area take a drive around and look at other local residential gardens. If you see a tree that you like, which grows well, and you are not sure what type of tree it is simply ask the owner. If the owner is not in the garden or in the house (or you are simply to shy to ask directly) consider dropping a note through the door explaining how you admired the tree in their garden and you would like to find out what type of tree it is. Remember to include some contact details, it’s really surprising how many people forget to do this and wonder why they weren’t contacted!
Some of the finest specimen trees are able to be purchased from your local garden center or nursery. These trees are often available in various sizes with very young small trees being far cheaper than the larger examples. If you buy a small tree of around one year old your tree will grow very quickly even in the first year. If you buy a larger tree this will, usually, be much slower growing and may not grow much in the first year following transplanting. Transplanting trees can be rather tricky and most trees in a garden center or nursery are usually available as pot grown. Pot grown trees have a good root ball and can be transplanted immediately. Trees are also available in a bare root form, which is as it says, bare root with no soil in or around the root system, containerized trees are simply bare root trees which have been planted up into a container and therefore the root system is not as highly developed as pot grown examples.
Most trees are available from nurseries which specialize in growing only trees. These places are usually far cheaper than your usual garden centers but they are geared more towards professional landscaping contractors and they are usually priced according to the number bought with an expectation of you purchasing at least a hundred trees. Such trees are usually used in large plantings or as a shelter belt to protect larger gardens from prevailing winds. Specimen trees are singular trees chosen for their aesthetic qualities, they are also often a little more difficult to propagate which tends to lead to a higher price, sometimes up to ten times the price of cheaper trees – it really is a good job that we only require one or possibly two specimen trees rather than a few hundred.
Specimen trees are usually trees that have amazing flowers such as the flowering wild cherry tree or the oriental looking laburnum which is completely covered in yellow blooms early in the season. Some trees, such as the monkey puzzle tree or the corkscrew hazel, are chosen for their distinctive architectural qualities. Many people are choosing to use fruit trees, such as apple trees, as specimen trees. Trees such as the apple tree provide the benefits of beautiful blossom in the spring followed by, if you are lucky, a crop of gorgeous fruit by the end of the summer. Whichever tree you choose the older it gets the more character it will have and there is simply nothing more interesting to be found in the garden other than a very old tree.
Eric Johnstone has been a landscape gardener for about 15 years and writes for a small number of landscape gardening sites in his spare time.
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May 22nd, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I am trying to figure out what small trees and shrubs will work for my location.I live in North Western WA and it can be windy as well as wet here. I know native ones that will work, but hoped to find something more ornamental. The soil is somewhat thin and there is clay deeper down. This means the plant must be able to withstand some wet roots in winter. Sometimes mounding a bed works, but with drainage being a problem in winter,we can easily have water back-up in some locations. Any ideas? Willows?