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Sorbus garden?

We aren't experienced gardeners and would be grateful for any advice about our sorbus aucuparia plan.

We live in the Derbyshire Dales area of the Peak District. Our front garden has never, ever been gardened. It's a south facing extremely steep hill, about 40ft wide by 50 ft long. We aren't experienced gardeners. We're thinking of making it a garden dedicated to sorbus aucaparia, with some variations (if that's the correct term) like sorbus scalaris, sorbus huphensis, sorbus huphensis, etc. We've already put 6 ft hazel wattle hurdles along the boundaries of the garden, and we would like to simply grow the sorbus scattered along the edges of the garden, like a wildish loose hedge, just trimming parts of it if it starts to block the lovely views. We would have just one sorbus aucuparia growing as a solitary tree part way down the hill. So the garden would just consist of a border like a mixed wild high hedge except that it would all be sorbus, and one sorbus tree, and wild grasses & flowers.

We want to do this for aesthetic reasons but, aesthetics apart, are there likely to be any disadvantages to having an all sorbus garden? Are they more likely to get diseases if there are lots of them? I would prefer not to have a mixed wild hedge, because I think a sorbus garden would make a change & be beautiful in its simplicity, but does a mixed wild hedge offer better protection from diseases?

I realise that if our sorbus were all struck by fireblight or some other big problem, it would mean we might lose all our plants at once. What I wonder is, would our sorbus be more likely to suffer if there were so many of them? I was thinking the "hedge" around the garden would consist of about 23 sorbus, plus the sorbus tree in the middle.

Thank you for reading.

Posts

  • Hostafan1Hostafan1 Posts: 34,888

    Gosh. What a plan.

    In the nicest way, I think your garden isn't big enough to have a " sorbus garden"

    My feeling, in the nicest way,is that it might turn out to look a bit "bitty" in a kinda "kid in the sweetshop grabbing one of everything" way.

    I'd pick a max of 5 and have more of each variety. I think that would have more impact than one of lots and lots of varieties.

    I'd love to see "before and after" shots as you go along.

    Devon.
  • Rachy2Rachy2 Posts: 15

    Thank you Hostafan 1. I agree. I wasn't thinking of 23 different sorbus, just a total of 23 plants, mostly sorbus aucaparia (which I think is the one that grows wild around here) with about 5 other kinds like sargentiana and huphensis. What I am wondering is whether having so many sorbus in one place would make them more vulnerable to disease etc. We aren't experienced gardeners so would be grateful for advice.

  • Rachy2Rachy2 Posts: 15

    Thank you Verdun. That is what I feared as I noticed that in the wild round here rowan trees tend to be solitary rather than growing in groups. I might have to abandon the idea.

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445

    Don't do it.

    Sorbus doesn't make a hedge, even a wild and loose one. Allowed to grow up, then be cut back to open the view, will make an unattractively shaped lump. Have a few sorbus trees where they won't spoil the view and hedge with something more 'hedgy'.



    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • Rachy2Rachy2 Posts: 15

    Thank you nutcutlet! I won't!  This forum is wonderful. Such a wealth of knowledge and it's very good of you all to share it. 

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