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Tree to go near a pond
Mel Ling
Posts: 1
We need to put one or more trees at the bottom of the garden as our neighbours just cut down theirs and now we see straight into their house! Trouble is we have plans to put a pond near that border so I want something that doesn't drop much, and evergreen for the privacy. Doesn't need to be very high as we're a bungalow so 3-4 metres should suffice. Thanks, Mel
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Posts
What about a holly - they grow faster than people think but most varieties don't grow too huge. Lots of lovely ones here http://www.welsh-holly.co.uk/hollies.htm
The great thing about a holly is that once it's got to the size you want it doesn't mind being cut hard back into a formal shape if that will keep it to the required size, whereas many conifers don't like being cut hard back and you get left with brown instead of green foliage.
And of course, if you get a female variety you'll get berries for Christmas
(providing there's a male within half a mile or so , and there usually is)
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
Just be careful about roots, don't know what liner you are using but roots will cause problems. Try and choose a tree that isnt too agressive that maybe has a ball root system. Can't suggest anything apart from Conifers someone on here will have much better ideas I am sure.
It is not a good idea to plant any tree near a pond. The moisture when the pond overflows in wet weather will attract the tree roots and even if it is an evergreen, you will have debris falling into the water. The height of a tree denotes the radius of the root spread.
I agree Joyce - it's not ideal - but we don't always have ideal situations in our garden. We have two large ash trees at the end of our garden - last year we created a wildlife pond - there was nowhere else for the pond to go but close to the edge of the canopy of one of the trees - consequently the pond isn't as deep as we would've ideally made it, and we have to net it in the autumn to catch the falling leaves - but it's a very successful wildlife pond with diverse insects and amphibians and even a visit from a grass snake
If conditions aren't ideal you just have to work a bit harder, that's all
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
A Holm Oak may fit the bill, but perhaps a little slow growing.
a cotoneaster Connubia or Exburiensis both evergreen and a large specimen costs £39.95 at Beeches, I know because I bought them last Sunday.
Presume you are thinking evergreen to reduce leaves in the pond. Remember that evergreens also drop their leaves, often in late spring rather than autumn and not all at once.
personally I would pick my holly carefully because I don't like collecting prickly leaves, Golden King is mostly prickle free and is female so has berries.
have you thought about Prunus lusitanica, the Portugeuse Laurel. I know laurels have a bad reputation but this will grow, with some help, into a lollipop shape so suitable for gardens. Also has shiny leaves. Looks good. Tolerates hard pruning.
We have a willow growing by our pond, I coppice it each autumn before the leaves fall in the pond. Of no help at all to the original poster who wants a permanent screen from the neighbours, but it is one way to have a tree near a pond and avoid the usual pitfalls, the roots don't seem invasive at all, probably because it is taken back every year.
I agree Dove.
My pond is not far from an ash growing on top of a bank. Forunately the prevalent SWesterly gales we have down here tend to blow most of the leaves into my neighbours garden but I still have to collect leaves etc from the water. The pond is outside thhe root area of the tree due its growing about 4ft up on top of the bank.