Acer platanoides Pacific Sunset

There have been some lovely autumn colours to view this season and a fairly new tree to our range didn’t disappoint. Acer platanoides Pacific Sunset looks like straightforward Norway Maple in the summer months but in the autumn its lustrous green leaves turn a mix of gold, yellow and even red. This tough tree thrives on most soils and is great for large gardens, parkland or for avenues. There are loads of clones for Acer platanoides, some with red summer leaves, some flushing red before turning green, some variegated and some golden. They are all very robust but in our opinion Acer platanoides Pacific Sunset is the pick of them for autumn colour.

When picking trees for your garden think of the timing of their display to allow for season long interest. Cornus mas for flower in February/March; Flowering Cherries in April/May with the Flowering Crab Apples and Magnolias soon to follow; Crataegus Paul Scarlet (thorn) in late May; Koelreuteria flower for summer flower; Prunus subhirtella Autumnalis Rosea for autumn flower; Betula utilis Jacquemontii for sustained year round back interest and Acer platanoides Pacific Sunset along with Liquidambar Worplesdon for autumn colour. If you play it right and have a garden large enough, you can get continuous interest with trees for the entire year!

To find out what trees are best for your soil and conditions within your garden feel free to phone us of e mail us, we would be please to advise!

             

View all Barcham trees

Bulk discount when you buy any mix of 10 trees or more

How much space do I need for a tree?

It is a common problem to see trees failing in positions with too little soil volume to accommodate them. Our local supermarket in Ely demonstrates only too well that trees chiselled into planting pits within hard areas are never going to thrive. These hornbeam were planted into positions where they could access only a cubic metre of soil and look at the result! This scheme probably looked great on an architect’s drawing board but practically these trees were destined to fail.

Trees that have the ability to get big such as oak, lime, hornbeam etc need about 30 cubic metres of rooting capacity to fulfil their potential. You very rarely see trees planted with this in mind in urban areas. Try not to entomb your newly planted tree in a hard area of paving or driveway, but rather link it to green areas such as lawn or bordering land to give the tree the soil volume it needs to thrive.

For those of you where this is not an option, all is not lost! Pick trees that are small in ultimate size, such as Hibiscus Resi or Photinia Red Robin as these need much lower soil volumes to support them. When thinking on where to put a tree focus on underground soil volume rather than above ground look. The latter is a given if the roots are empowered. If in doubt on what to choose, give us a call, we would be happy to advise.

             

View all Barcham trees

Bulk discount when you buy any mix of 10 trees or more

When is acorn collection season?

I had a text alert come through last week to say that my favourite English Oak , Quercus robur, had enough acorns to harvest this year. This particular oak we have named the Fotheringhay Oak from where it has grown undisturbed for the best part of over 600 years. This means it was probably around when Richard the Third was born at the nearby Fotheringhay Castle in 1452 and certainly around when Mary Queen of Scots was beheaded at the same location in 1587.

I visit this magnificent tree every September in the hope that I can harvest acorns to secure a crop of providence seed from a very historic tree. It is tucked away, about a half mile walk from where I have to abandon my car, and most times I leave empty handed but this year I was rewarded by a bumper crop. The last time I picked from this tree was in 2011 and I have never picked ripe acorns as early as August before. I am very grateful to Stephen Long who both introduced me to this tree in the first place and keeps tabs on it for me to alert me of any acorn potential. This year he laid on a telescopic machine which took us all the way into the tree’s canopy to get the juicy acorns that my step ladder won’t reach.

Most Oaks are imported these days and this is why we now have Oak Processionary Moth in the Country, a pest that can give rise to symptoms resembling a full on asthmatic attack if the caterpillars hairs are inhaled. Imported trees like this made it into the Olympic Village in London and lax biosecurity is now costing the UK tax payer millions of pounds in a forlorn effort to firefight pest and disease outbreaks.

At Barcham we take a different approach. By majoring on a tree like the Fotheringhay Oak we are banking on the providence of a tree that has thrived for centuries and come through droughts, downpours, hurricanes and intense heat and cold. This tree has a history of winning despite the odds and we ride on the back of its success. It is in tune with the UK environment and its offspring stand an exceptionally good chance of being equipped with the same coding.

We will line the acorns out in their seedbed today after yesterday’s harvest. They germinate in the spring and we leave them a growing season before potting them up to grow on in 5 litre Light Pots for another year. From there we plant them in the field and harvest them for sale within our medium sized range about 4 years after that. This takes longer that buying a finished Oak from Holland as most nurseries do but at least you know the providence of our stock and that they do not pose a risk to the UK environment.

             

             

View all Barcham trees

Bulk discount when you buy any mix of 10 trees or more

How does wind affect trees?

Wind can be a devil with trees, causing damage, and drying out of leaves; especially when the leaf is large and fleshy, such as in Horse Chestnut.

As a general rule, the more branches there are on a tree, the better the wind is diffused throughout it to keep the tree upright. Constant wind drag can lead to one sided effects, demonstrated by this coastal planting near Tintagel in Cornwall. The trees resemble the shape of golf clubs, forged by the constant battering from the coastal breezxe.

If you want to plant a tree in exposed windy areas, go for multi stem or feathered trees that are bottom heavy, rather than standard trees that are top heavy and blow about too readily. Even with the best intentions, it is extremely tricky to stake and secure standard trees with long clear stems in very windy locations. Sometimes, especially on coastal sites, you may have to admit defeat. Take a look at the surrounding landscape and see what type of trees nature will support in your area and in some instances planting small and working your way upward can be the only way forward.

Species selection in windy areas should also be considered in conjunction with form, some trees will tolerate being blown around far more readily; being adapted to the wind in either form, as mentioned above, or due to the physiological features they exhibit. Take care not to plant trees with excessively fleshy leaves, as these tend to be the first to be ravaged by the wind, especially during the summer months. Trees such as Paulownia and Catalpa fall into this category, in windy conditions their large fleshy leaves get torn about by the constant battering and as such the trees will never perform at their best.

As a general rule, if trees will tolerate coastal conditions, they will contend well with the wind. Please see our recommendations for trees that tolerate coastal locations for more information.

View all Barcham trees

Bulk discount when you buy any mix of 10 trees or more

Why are ants in my trees and shrubs?

We get a lot of calls about insects on their plants but don’t worry about it! In most cases there is a natural balance between pest and predator and without insects down at the bottom of the food chain our species wouldn’t be here! We tend to want to sterilise our indoor and outdoor space but this over hygienic approach can create an unhealthy imbalance. I was very troubled last week by seeing a bed of hidcote lavender in full bloom without a bee in sight. I planted about two square metres for them to prosper on but their decline is another result of human actions that will in turn bite us where it hurts further on down the line.

Ants forage on trees and shrubs for aphids which they squeeze like we would a tube of toothpaste. The sugars that the aphids are extracting from the plant are being milked by the ants for food. In simplistic terms, remove the aphids to remove the ants to remove the beetles to remove the birds to remove us! Don’t worry about the odd notch or blemish on your trees and shrubs, that is what they are there for. The animal kingdom needs the plant kingdom to feast on for the health of all.

Planting a tree creates a great habitat for innumerable animals on which to thrive. Spraying insecticides should be the last resort to avoid disturbing the natural balance within your garden. Easy to say if you have an infestation of Lilly beetle or black bean aphid but in the main nature can look after itself without our intervention.

               

View all Barcham trees

Bulk discount when you buy any mix of 10 trees or more

Water your trees!

With many trees receiving a great drenching from the rainfall overnight please don’t think this is sufficient to keep your newly planted tree going for long.

Trees planted last winter have had a tough time, especially in the south and east of the country where we have had only two meaningful rain systems go through in the last four months. With lawns turning brown, trees desperately need slow and sustained watering regimes to get them established and to tick over their vascular systems until they become dormant in the autumn.

It’s going to turn hot and sunny next week again, when you are reaching for a bit of liquid refreshment don’t forget your trees are thirsty too!!

View all Barcham trees

Bulk discount when you buy any mix of 10 trees or more

Chelsea Flower show 2017

We have moved position this year and now have the opportunity to feature a lot more trees on our stand.

The Chelsea Flower Show is a very vibrant event with thousands of people cramming the isle-ways to see the trade exhibits or show gardens. Our trees are everywhere! On trade stands, in Show Gardens, even down public walkways within benches to cast shade. If you come to Chelsea this year you won’t be too far away from a Barcham tree! Tonight is the gala evening where a lucky few get to view the show by invitation after the Royal viewing has finished. It’s been sweltering down here so the dip in temperature is very welcome. This year we are selling our third edition of our hardback reference book ‘Time for trees’ and offering advice on anything arboricultural for people who visit us on our stand.

If you are on your way down for this event we look forward to meeting with you over the coming week! Stand 81

       

       

View all Barcham trees

Bulk discount when you buy any mix of 10 trees or more

How do I get water to a tree miles from a tap?

Faced with this dilemma on a steamy Sunday afternoon with temperatures soaring to the mid twenties, I had to get water to a newly planted Quercus robur, English Oak, in my local village.

Usually a tree planted in January shouldn’t need watering before it leafs up in April but it’s been so hot and warm I thought it was in need of a drink. I couldn’t get water to the site as it would have slopped all over the place on the walk down to the field so I resorted to the slow release solid form, ice!! Even on the hottest of days ice will take several hours to melt and this gives time for the soil to grip the water where the roots can then access it. It’s a useful way to water trees and has served me well over the years!

It’s crucial for newly planted trees to be kept well hydrated until the longest day in June when root systems are at their most active. In really hot dry summers watering in July through to October is similarly very important.

Please water your trees!!

                     

View all Barcham trees

Bulk discount when you buy any mix of 10 trees or more

What’s the best way to stake a low branched tree?

There are lots of different methods to plant a tree correctly and many of these can be modified to suit specific conditions and awkward specimens. Low crowned trees, sometimes known as feathered trees, are tricky as the branches can get in the way of the stakes. I visited one of our customers this week who had done a terrific job in planting an avenue of our Carpinus betulus Fastigiata around a sports pitch in Uppingham, Rutland. The stakes were installed at a slight angle away from the root system so that when they were fastened to the tree the tie pulled them into a vertical position and not pointing inwards towards the stem. This avoids any chance of damage later on down the line. He also put in three stakes making it very unlikely that a grass cutter could damage the stem of the tree in the summer. The mulch was pulled away from the collar of the tree and he marked the base of the stem with a blue line for the planting crew to get the planting depth spot on. Please click here for further information The stakes were short, two foot out of the ground and two foot in. A feathered tree has more stability than a full standard tree as the low branches act as wind diffusers and give the tree a lower point of gravity. All in all a great job done, well thought through and very well executed. I have no reason to think why these trees establishment shouldn’t be a complete success.

So often I see stakes put in without a thought process of what’s trying to be achieved. Stakes are to keep the tree solidly stable, not the other way round! We have produced a short video detailing how we like our trees to be planted and if they are done in this way you can expect nothing else but success! Please click here to watch the video.
One of our sales guys went to a site today and saw the reverse of this. He was called in to give his verdict on a line of Betula Jacquemontii that had failed from last season. They were not ours thank goodness but they could have been, with the result the same. The trees were planted far too deep, suffocating the stem and putting the root system far too deep down into the soil profile. At this depth the roots are in a saturated layer of soil devoid of oxygen. So easy to get it wrong but also so easy to get it right!!

For any further advise on planting a tree, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

               

View all Barcham trees

Bulk discount when you buy any mix of 10 trees or more