Trees for shallow soil

markbagwell232 · May 2022

Hi everyone, I've got very shallow clay soil on top of a limestone bedrock. I would like to plant a tree of some sort but not too sure what would work if anything. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks in advance

robairdmacraignil · May 2022

White thorn (Crataegus monogyna) is fairly good at growing in most settings.

Happy gardening!

Slow-worm · May 2022

How shallow, approximately?

Plantminded · May 2022

Unless your soil is at least three feet deep, it might be better to consider a shrub which can have tree-like proportions. What height and spread are you hoping to achieve and do you have a preference for deciduous or evergreen? It would also be useful to know whether your site is sheltered or exposed and whether it is sunny or shaded.

markbagwell232 · June 2022

Thanks for everyone's comments, soil is only about 7-8" deep! Before bedrock and It's a south facing garden, fairly sheltered.
I was thinking about a birch a cornus kousa or an amelanchier..... thanks again

raisingirl · June 2022

amelanchier prefers rich, heavy soil, so probably not, although they are quite tough, so it might grow if you keep it watered, but probably it'll never be much bigger than a shrub.

Maybe a rowan? They grow on mountains.....

Buttercupdays · June 2022

It would be best to start with a very young tree that doesn't mind limestone and let it find its own way into the rock as it grows. Sticking a larger rootball into 8" of soil is never going to work no matter how much TLC it gets.

Uff · June 2022

I've seen silver birch growing out of rock fissures but if I planted one in a fissure I'll bet it wouldn't grow. We had a garden that was literally shore cobbles which had to be taken out by hand and then filled with JI3 and then planted up. There were several silver birch in that garden and even a row of conifers as a wind break. Nature never ceases to amaze me.

Jellyfire · June 2022

These are all trees I’ve photographed growing in slate in wales, with pretty much no soil at all. Rowan and birch grow in abundance, and even the odd oak. Trees that grow on mountains get lots of rain though, and rarely become anywhere near full sized, so a lot will depend on your climate.

7-8ft sounds pretty decent to me, I think you will be fine with most stuff, but I’d personally got for a birch or rowan, both lovely looking trees which adapt well to shallow soil and low nutrients.

The smaller the tree when you plant it the better your chances. I planted a few 2ft tall birch whips about 5 -6 years ago, which are probably 15ft tall now. A bigger tree will need much more tlc and be slower to get going. But it depends how big a tree you want to end up with

Fairygirl · June 2022

Indeed @Buttercupdays.
The only trees that thrive in such a shallow amount of soil are ones which have seeded themselves in there and have adapted. They'll tend to be much smaller too.

Rowans only grow lower down on mountains [below the treeline of around 1200 feet] and while they can certainly seed into all sorts of inhospitable places, including mossy outcrops, they only continue to survive in them because they get enough rain. Without that, they don't survive.

Trees for shallow soil

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