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Sorbus Glen Spire - Mountain Ash Tree

Hello,

Does anyone have Sorbus Glen Spire - Mountain Ash Tree in their garden? I was reading on https://www.mailordertrees.co.uk/collections/sorbus-rowan-trees/products/sorbus-glen-spire-mountain-ash-tree that it's 4 meters high and 1 metre wide, but other sites say it can reach 8 meters in height and also wider than 1 metre. It's quite important for me to know the true size of the tree as my garden is not big.
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  • Sorbus aucuparia Glendoick Spire 

    That is the suggested height /width after 10 years...but then it will carry on growing.

    RHS say it grows to 8 m.

    "Sorbus 'Glendoick Spire'

    A narrow, columnar tree to around 8m tall with dark green leaves divided into oblong, toothed leaflets that turn shades of orange, yellow and red in autumn. Hanging clusters of small, creamy-white flowers are borne in spring and followed by bright pink to reddish berries in autumn"


    Glendoick is a famous nursery/garden centre ....owned by the Cox family.

     It is near here....they will have probably found/propagated /grown and named this tree.



    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    It's not a cultivar I know, but I do have sorbus in my garden.
    They're not too tricky to keep small regardless of their ultimate size with some coppicing.
    The RHS site does say it can get to 8m high and 2.5m wide in time.

    I had one appear in my garden about 15 years ago - probably dropped by a bird.
    I do love rowans, but it was in the wrong place (about 6" from my neighbour's fence).
    When the main stem got to about 10ft I cut it back to about 6"
    That caused it to send out more stems from the base.
    Now there are about 5-6 main stems.
    After about 15 years, overall it's about 10-12ft high now and about 1.5m wide.

    You can coppice/prune them harshly and they respond well.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    I just ventured down the garden, so took a pic-


    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • WoodgreenWoodgreen Posts: 1,273
    That looks great . Did you thin out the new 'trunks' @Pete.8 or did it naturally grow as I see in the photo?
    I've got a damaged one, but there's a big leaning spruce above it, resting on an ash tree so I've left it alone for now. When the spruce is removed I'd like to try coppicing the rowan.

    It certainly looks like this could be an option for @rafuk73 if their rowan gets too big.
  • Pete.8Pete.8 Posts: 11,340
    Thanks @Woodgreen

    When the original single stemmed tree got to about 8-10ft I cut it back to the ground some years ago. I intended to remove it entirely due to the proximity of the fence a few inches away, but never got round to it.
    Several stems appeared from the ground.
    I think I pruned out a couple of stems a few years ago when they were small and it now has 4 main trunks.
    I may cut out the tallest 1 or 2 if it gets much bigger which will give more new shoots from the ground, but i'll see how it goes as it hasn't really got much bigger over the last couple of years.
    I'm trying to keep it about the size it is now to prevent damage to my neighbour's fence.

    Billericay - Essex

    Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit.
    Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.
  • A word of warning.
    Special named rowans will probably be grafted on to common rowan.
    By cutting back severely the new suckers which grow will have a different habit/shape/have different coloured berries etc as they will be the common rowan.
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • WoodgreenWoodgreen Posts: 1,273
    Thank you @ Pete.8, that's really useful to know. I will try coppicing the rowan as it's top has been broken and the trunk bent by branches from the spruce. It's a lost cause as it is, so worth trying.

    A good point, @ Silver surfer, especially with the one in the original post. My tree was bought as sorbus commixta (but I can't say for sure that it is, I no longer put too much faith in labels I'm afraid) and has no obvious graft but I'll bear this in mind.
  • Woodgreen said:

    A good point, @ Silver surfer, especially with the one in the original post. My tree was bought as sorbus commixta (but I can't say for sure that it is, I no longer put too much faith in labels I'm afraid) and has no obvious graft but I'll bear this in mind.
    Sorbus commixta is a sp so will probably be on its own root stock.
    But cannot be certain.

    The problem is on named cultivars.
    They will always be grafted.

    This is the description of what it should be like...so you can compare detail with yours.

    http://www.beanstreesandshrubs.org/browse/sorbus/sorbus-commixta-koehne/
    Perthshire. SCOTLAND .
  • WoodgreenWoodgreen Posts: 1,273
    Thank you @Silver surfer. It does seem a bit of a minefield.
    I'll check my records properly this evening and compare the tree's growth habit with the description on the Bean's site. We bought two at the same time and the other one does differ slightly when compared to the damaged one, but different conditions may have affected this.
  • MarlorenaMarlorena Posts: 8,705
    Sorbus vilmorinii is a pleasing and suitable alternative for small gardens and narrow borders.   It will flower and fruit next season..   It will also tolerate much drier and full sun conditions than usually stated, where it will be dwarfer.. On the south coast I had one for years that never got above 10 feet..   In moist areas, taller, but after a very long time..




    East Anglia, England
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