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small trees for screening?

NewbiePlantAddictNewbiePlantAddict Posts: 24
in Garden design
Hi All,

I have a 5ft boundary wall / trellis combo which I am training young clematis and honeysuckle up and in addtion to this, I would like to plant some small trees / or tall shrubs to add screening around 7-8ft once mature.My garden is fairly small - 22ft wide by 50ft long and is currently "immature" as I had to remove all the previous plant due as they had been left to go wild! Looking for any good recommendations? also following watching gardeners world the other night, could I plant the trees / plants in pots to help "control" growth once at target height? I like the look of Olive trees but as I am in NE scotland I dont think they would do well!

thxs

Posts

  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    edited July 2020
    That's seems like a good size garden to me (mine's about 12 x 50 ft!) I would not worry about planting in pots, just plant appropriately sized trees. Although Olive trees work well in pots as patio specimens.

    If you like olives, you might like Pyrus salicifolia, or Crataegus orientalis which are small trees with greyish foliage. Hippophae rhamnoides and Salix eleagnos are silvery leaved shrubs which can be allowed to grow into small trees if you let them. For non-silvery trees, crab apples are good trees for small gardens in a range of modest sizes and colours. Or there pear and apple trees which are grown on rootstocks that ensure they don't get bigger than 3 or 4 metres. If you want evergreen, Cotoneaster x watereri is worth a look.
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    I missed the 7-8 feet part. I think you can afford one or two trees which are larger than that, but for 7-8 feet you could look at larger shrubs, or fruit trees on an appropriate rootstock: https://www.orangepippintrees.co.uk/articles/how-to-choose-fruit-trees/fruit-tree-rootstock-tree-sizes
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • DevonianDevonian Posts: 176
    How about some of the Viburnums? My personal favourites, some of them are evergreen I believe. Others such as Viburnum burkwoodii have lovely twisting multistem trunks and form a fairly thick canopy of branches making them look like an umbrella (with lovely scented flowers in spring!)
  • DevonianDevonian Posts: 176
    Check out the photo at the bottom of this page for an idea of what I mean (this is the evergreen type) - lovely when underplanted with Acer!

    https://www.paramountplants.co.uk/blog/index.php/viburnums/
  • LoxleyLoxley Posts: 5,698
    Viburnum farreri is a nice one too.

    There's a good article here on growing shrubs as very small trees, but I think you have the space for an actual small tree rather than doing this.
    https://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/howtogrow/9131409/Dont-downsize-your-trees-upsize-a-shrub.html
    "What is hateful to you, do not do to your neighbour". 
  • NewbiePlantAddictNewbiePlantAddict Posts: 24
    Wow thanks guys some great ideas for me to research. Unfortunately, I cant access the article but will try find one similar for ideas. Vilburums look lovely and an option I had never heard of before! 
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