Not if you heard me sing quercus_ruber - all the family tell me I'm tone-deaf !!! My husband is amazed at the non-harmony sounds I come out with - it all sounds ok to me !!!
Lovely photos Gardening Grandma. The tree does look a fine specimen but I can understand why you might think it's not in the right place !! I'm afraid I can't place the identity of the tree but the leaves look familiar !!!
Sorry I cannot be more helpful but I'm sure others will know what it is from the photos.
Having looked at another query in this forum, I'm now wondering whether this is a goat willow and I have simple missed the catkins, either because they are small or because I just haven't looked at the right time of year. Until this year, it was behind the greenhouse. I think I have spotted a similar small tree in a nearby garden. If so, I would feel safe in leaving it there.
You are absolutely right. This is Salix caprea or Goat Willow. But you will need to prune it to stay small because eventually it will grow into a 14 m. high tree.
You are absolutely right. This is Salix caprea or Goat Willow. But you will need to prune it to stay small because eventually it will grow into a 14 m. high tree.
Thank you, Flowerchild. i have looked on the Woodland trust website and it gives the average height as 6-10 metres so I'm hoping it won't get much bigger. I know that these things can be unpredictable and that a happy plant can exceed height expectations. Do you have experience of their geting bigger than 10 metres, please?
I have, but I have to say that these were growing in quite wet conditions. Judging from your photo your soil seems to be drier. Beware of suckers and seedlings though because they can spread themselves out rapidly.
I've pulled out lots of these without knowing what they were, so i know they are prolific. It is just that this one seemed a godsend, providing privacy from overlooking windows without actually having to think about how I could provide this for myself without taking all the light from the gardens behind. The branches of this are quite open and it seems a far better option that the awful, mile-high Leylandii that you see.
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Not if you heard me sing quercus_ruber - all the family tell me I'm tone-deaf !!!
My husband is amazed at the non-harmony sounds I come out with - it all sounds ok to me !!! 
Having looked at another query in this forum, I'm now wondering whether this is a goat willow and I have simple missed the catkins, either because they are small or because I just haven't looked at the right time of year. Until this year, it was behind the greenhouse. I think I have spotted a similar small tree in a nearby garden. If so, I would feel safe in leaving it there.
You are absolutely right. This is Salix caprea or Goat Willow. But you will need to prune it to stay small because eventually it will grow into a 14 m. high tree.
Thank you, Flowerchild. i have looked on the Woodland trust website and it gives the average height as 6-10 metres so I'm hoping it won't get much bigger. I know that these things can be unpredictable and that a happy plant can exceed height expectations. Do you have experience of their geting bigger than 10 metres, please?
I have, but I have to say that these were growing in quite wet conditions. Judging from your photo your soil seems to be drier. Beware of suckers and seedlings though because they can spread themselves out rapidly.
I've pulled out lots of these without knowing what they were, so i know they are prolific. It is just that this one seemed a godsend, providing privacy from overlooking windows without actually having to think about how I could provide this for myself without taking all the light from the gardens behind. The branches of this are quite open and it seems a far better option that the awful, mile-high Leylandii that you see.