If you really wanted more you would have to make the bed bigger and sacrifice the lawn, or plant them in the lawn. I have one planted in my lawn. Don't plant them close to the fence.
Dordogne and Norfolk. Clay in Dordogne, sandy in Norfolk.
That’s a nicely shaped tree you have there. I’d think about making it’s white bark stand out as a feature by painting your fence a dark colour and then expanding the planting in a larger border to add different plant heights and seasonal colour. Too many trees in a smallish garden can be problematic, causing shade, dropping leaves, twigs and detritus and competing with other plants and the lawn for water and nutrients.
They can certainly be quite messy trees, and while that certainly doesn't bother me, many people don't like clearing leaves and twigs from grass etc, so it would be much easier to have more seasonal colour in and around it. The garden is small at 10 x 10 m, so any more trees would be a mistake, as they would block light nearer your house. It's probably the reason it's been put there - a nice focal point. A dark background always makes a good tree trunk like that stand out, and as @Plantminded says - it's a nice specimen. They aren't always that shapely
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
In my present garden, I inherited several birch trees. A couple were about 1m diameter 1m up; possibly 50m tall. I have seen their equal, but never bigger. Still healthy, they came down in the 1987 storm. It cost me a small fortunate to clear up.
Birch don't usually live long, and there is an end-of-life cost.
location: Surrey Hills, England, ex-woodland acidic sand. "Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
I don't think many folk take notice of the number of posts ... some of us have been around a long while ...others of us were laid up for a while through injury and spent quite a bit of time on the forum 🙄... however I do try to welcome someone making their first post ... otherwise like age, it's just a number, not a competition
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Thank you all so much for your thoughtful and detailed responses. I'm so glad I signed up.
The size and shape of the bed is flexible - we just did it for the wildflowers - so we could make room but given what everyone has said it's probably not a good idea.
I think it's the solo trunk that bothers me - it's like having a candlestick as the centrepiece on a table...I'm trying to make it a pair or a candelabra! I must admit I am more tempted to risk the multistem now, but first I'll consider incorporating some other trunks (small potted trees maybe) or vertical lines in that space as a less drastic option. Obelisks for climbers perhaps.
Will definitely be painting the fences anyway - trying to push the back one into the distance a bit with two shades - so maybe that will help too. Then it will hopefully stand out in a good way.
I'm guessing from the last couple of posts by @Dovefromabove and @Brockman that a certain poster is 'having a go'. The advantage of pressing that ignore button is that I don't see any of it now @thewittedwitchtliaJmwF - if you want to make a nice display there - you'll need to make the planting area bigger. As it is - it won't support lots of other shrubs/perennials and climbers on obelisks still need room, and decent soil to thrive
This is the sort of thing you can do if you make it a little larger @thewittedwitchtliaJmwF - the red line denotes a an edging further out. Apologies as it's a bit messy, but the general idea is to add various plants of differing heights and timings, but keeping a palette of colour that will work with the birch and not take over from it.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
@Fairygirl's design above would work really well, in my opinion. You could incorporate plants with a strong vertical element like irises or a tall grass, perhaps, or obelisks, as you suggested, @thewittedwitchtliaJmwF.
I don't think I'd advocate trying to make a multi-stemmed tree by cutting down what you have (which is a lovely shape) and seeing if it will sprout. It might not. And if it does sprout, it will take years before the new stems make an impact.
Incidentally - for anyone hoping to make a multi-stemmed tree by planting several saplings in the same hole - this can make for a very unstable mature tree. One of the two rowans we had to have removed today consisted of four individual trunks, one of which blew down a couple of weeks ago, leaving the remaining trunks with branches on one side of each, in imminent danger of blowing over...
Since 2019 I've lived in east Clare, in the west of Ireland.
Posts
The garden is small at 10 x 10 m, so any more trees would be a mistake, as they would block light nearer your house. It's probably the reason it's been put there - a nice focal point.
A dark background always makes a good tree trunk like that stand out, and as @Plantminded says - it's a nice specimen. They aren't always that shapely
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Birch don't usually live long, and there is an end-of-life cost.
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Congratulations, 49k+ and heading for 50k. But at 5 posts per thread, that won't be long. How should we celebrate?
"Have nothing in your garden that you don't know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful."
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
The size and shape of the bed is flexible - we just did it for the wildflowers - so we could make room but given what everyone has said it's probably not a good idea.
I think it's the solo trunk that bothers me - it's like having a candlestick as the centrepiece on a table...I'm trying to make it a pair or a candelabra! I must admit I am more tempted to risk the multistem now, but first I'll consider incorporating some other trunks (small potted trees maybe) or vertical lines in that space as a less drastic option. Obelisks for climbers perhaps.
Will definitely be painting the fences anyway - trying to push the back one into the distance a bit with two shades - so maybe that will help too. Then it will hopefully stand out in a good way.
@thewittedwitchtliaJmwF - if you want to make a nice display there - you'll need to make the planting area bigger. As it is - it won't support lots of other shrubs/perennials and climbers on obelisks still need room, and decent soil to thrive
This is the sort of thing you can do if you make it a little larger @thewittedwitchtliaJmwF - the red line denotes a an edging further out. Apologies as it's a bit messy, but the general idea is to add various plants of differing heights and timings, but keeping a palette of colour that will work with the birch and not take over from it.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I don't think I'd advocate trying to make a multi-stemmed tree by cutting down what you have (which is a lovely shape) and seeing if it will sprout. It might not. And if it does sprout, it will take years before the new stems make an impact.
Incidentally - for anyone hoping to make a multi-stemmed tree by planting several saplings in the same hole - this can make for a very unstable mature tree. One of the two rowans we had to have removed today consisted of four individual trunks, one of which blew down a couple of weeks ago, leaving the remaining trunks with branches on one side of each, in imminent danger of blowing over...