Posts

Platanus Acerifolia
Top 10 Street Trees

Trees for Urban Areas

Trees can enhance all environments, even urban ones with a wide range of environmental, social and economic benefits; street trees in urban parks have been found to improve physical and mental health, improve aesthetics and environmental quality, which can lead to increased investment and the local economy.

Our list of the best trees for urban planting are as follows:  (originally featured in magazine FutureArc)

  1. Carpinus betulus Frans Fontaine (Upright Hornbeam)
  2. Ginkgo biloba (Maidenhair Tree)
  3. Koelreuteria paniculata (Golden Rain Trees)
  4. Liquidambar styraciflua (American Sweet Gum)
  5. Nyssa sylvatica (Sour Gum)
  6. Platanus× acerifolia  (Plane Trees)
  7. Pyrus calleryana Chanticleer (Callery Pear)
  8. Sorbus torminalis (Wild Service Trees)
  9. Tilia cordata (Small-leaved Lime)
  10. Ulmus hollandica Lobel (Lobel Elm)

See Forestry Commission article for more details on street tree planting programmes.

Top 10 Street Trees

Carpinus betulus Frans Fontaine (Upright Hornbeam)

Distinctive features: Bright green foliage in the spring, turning to gold and orange in the autumn. It tolerates pollution and soil compaction, making it an excellent choice for street tree planting. Upright Hornbeam will do well in most soils, including clay and chalk. It is a good choice for poor soil conditions.

Average height/ crown size: 20m Retains its columnar shaped crown of only 3m

Maintenance/Planting tips: 20-25years to maturity; will tolerate most soil types

Ginkgo biloba (Maidenhair Tree)

Distinctive features: The leaves are fan shaped, appearing bright green in spring and then bright yellow in the autumn. Tough enough to cope with air pollution, reflected heat and light, Ginkgo biloba is a great contender as a street tree.

Average height/ crown size: 20m+ forms a large specimen with a conical shape at maturity

Maintenance/Planting tips: 20-50years to maturity; will tolerate most soil types

Koelreuteria paniculata (Golden Rain Trees) 

Distinctive features: Koelreuteria paniculata’s profuse small yellow flowers develop in late spring and these form lantern-shaped fruits that turn red in the autumn when its green leaves turn a rich yellow.

Average height/ crown size: 7-12m forms a rounded crown

Maintenance/Planting tips: 20-50 years to maturity; thrives best on free draining soils with a sunny aspect.

Liquidambar styraciflua (American Sweet Gum)

Distinctive features: Liquidambar styraciflua or American Sweet Gum is a large, undemanding tree, which is pollution resistant. It’s large star-shaped leaves emerge bright green in the spring then changing to fabulous red, purple and gold colours throughout the autumn; Liquidambar is one of the very best trees for autumn colour and one of the last deciduous trees to drop its leaves.

Average height/ crown size: 20m+ matures to a rounded crown

Maintenance/Planting tips: more than 50 years to maturity; Best in fertile, well-drained soil, not suitable for lime or chalky soils

Nyssa sylvatica (Sour Gum)

Distinctive features: The Tupelo or sour gum is a wonderful tree for autumn foliage with its green summer leaves turning yellow, orange and even red into late autumn

Average height/ crown size: 12-17m Pyramidal in habit when young, it can develop into a large broad tree at maturity

Maintenance/Planting tips: 20-50 years to maturity; requires free draining acid soil

Platanus × acerifolia  (Plane Trees)

Distinctive features: The London Plane is the classic street tree, due to its high tolerance of pollution; It is also known as Platanus × hispanica. This large tree features multi-coloured, flaking bark, which includes patches of white, green, grey and brown. It’s large shiny, dark green leaves, transform into a copper colour in autumn before falling

Average height/ crown size: 20-30m forms a broadly pyramidal shaped crown at maturity

Maintenance/Planting tips: 20-50 years to maturity; tolerant to all soils but thrives

Pyrus calleryana Chanticleer (Callery Pear) 

Distinctive features: A medium height tree, the glossy lush green leaves emerge in March and last through to November, when they change to a reddish-purple before falling. It’s a very hardy tree, resistant to frost, heat, wind and pollution

Average height/ crown size: 15m side branches stretching upwards creating a narrow, conical shape

Maintenance/Planting tips: 20-50 years to maturity; Prefers to be in full sun, adapts well to most soils

Sorbus torminalis (Wild Service Trees)

Distinctive features: This has white flowers in spring give way to sharp tasting fruits in the autumn whilst its bark resembles a chequer pattern as it matures. Its green summer leaves turn orange and yellow in the autumn

Average height/ crown size: 10-15m a columnar habit when young and graduates to a broad oval when mature.

Maintenance/Planting tips: 20-50 years to maturity; thrives in most free draining soils, not in full sun, it is tolerant of atmospheric pollution and dry conditions.

Tilia cordata (Small-leaved Lime)

Distinctive features: This native tree produces fragrant white flowers in mid-summer and is a good tree for attracting bees and the yellow leaf colour in autumn is attractive. An excellent choice for avenues and parks.

Average height/ crown size: 20–30m a broad oval crown

Maintenance/Planting tips: 20-50 years to maturity; It tolerates heat, is frost hardy and wind resistant, but is sensitive to salt. This tree is happy on most soils

Ulmus hollandica Lobel (Lobel Elm)

Distinctive features: The fairly small rough leaves are dull dark green with dense veins and a double-serrated edge. They are bronze coloured when they emerge, remaining on the tree for a long time, often until late November. It is very resistant to sea wind, making it suitable for use in coastal areas.

Average height/ crown size: 20-30m  pyramidal tree with a dense crown

Maintenance/Planting tips: 20-50 years to maturity; It favours moist and light soils.

Prunus avium plena blossom
Top 10 Trees for Small Gardens
Trees specimen and semi mature
Top Quality Containerised Trees

Top Quality Containerised Trees

Available for Planting Now


Comprehensive Range

Practicality Brown’s tree nursery specialises in large trees, both evergreen and deciduous. With a combination of home grown and outsourced specimen and semi mature trees, we offer a broad range which includes many native UK species; trees that are suitable all occasions.

Containerised Trees

We have an excellent selection of beautiful trees that are available in containers and are ready to plant now, ahead of the traditional root ball season. These trees are in girth sizes 20cm to 65cm, up to 8m high.

All our acclimatised containerised stock has been carefully tended to at our nursery to ensure it is ready for delivery in perfect condition. We continually monitor conditions to ensure that trees are in the peak condition for planting, paying close attention to bio security and plant health management.

From delicate Acers (Maples), fully feathered Magnolia grandiflora to pleached Quercus palustris (Pin Oaks) and classic English Yew, there is something on the list for everyone.

Magnolia grandiflora fully feathered

Magnolia grandiflora

Image of a Yew Taxus baccata 1.5m element

Yew Taxus baccata 1.5m elements

Quercus palustris Specimen tree

Pleached Pin Oak

The trees detailed on this list are those we currently have in stock at our nursery; the heights and girths reflect actual sizes of these individual trees. The availability can daily, so please call to confirm availability of particular stock.  All prices shown are ex vat and exclude delivery, please use our enquiry form to request a detailed quotation.

We would be delighted to see you at our nursery in Iver, Buckinghamshire; please make an appointment to ensure one of our team are available to show you around.  We are located near to M4, M25 and M40 junctions, about 6 miles from Heathrow Airport and 15 miles from London and just 1 mile from Iver Station, with trains from London Paddington.

We look forward to welcoming you onto our nursery soon.

Cherry laurel is a great screening tree
Creating Privacy with Screening Trees

Screening Trees

Prunus laurocerasus Novita`

Privacy in your garden can be created using trees to hide or screen out an undesirable view; they can also be used to draw the eye to a specific feature.

Trees grown for this purpose often have a clear stem i.e. no leaves on the lower trunk; they reach up to fence panel height of around 1.8-2m with a full bushy canopy above, forming a good screen above the fence line. This type of screening is particularly useful if you are overlooked by neighbouring properties or would like to retain lower level exposure to an attractive wall or area.  Screening trees can be designed to create a focus point, perhaps to make the most of a feature.

 

Type of Privacy

It is a good idea to consider what you are aiming to screen out. For example are you directly overlooked by a neighbouring property, or would you like to filter out a large building or structure? Also consider the angle you are viewing from, as this may help choosing the right tree for your needs.

Practicality Brown’s semi-mature trees can be planted to achieve effective screening from the offset with evergreens being preferred for this purpose as they screen throughout the year.  However, a planting scheme that includes deciduous trees can provide rich contrast and seasonal interest.

 

Cherry Laurel

Prunus laurocerasus Novita close up

Prunus laurocerasus Novita, a dense evergreen tree, is popularly used for screening due to its upright and bushy habit and its

resilience to cold weather. In April small, fragrant, white flowers grow in vertical racemes about 12cm long which are followed by small glossy, black fruit.

We have semi-mature containerised Prunus laurocerasus Novita with a 1.8m clear-stem, available now.

The Cherry Laurel grows well in most soil and conditions, preferring moist slightly acidic soil.  Pruning in late spring to helps to retain its shape and encourages new growth.  If planting in a row, the optimum distance for the clear stem is with 1.2-1.5m spacing.

Trees from Practicality Brown

We can supply a range of top quality trees for decorative or screening, which are particularly useful to create privacy in your garden.   These include feathered trees that have full growth from the ground upwards and offer the same screening ability.  A mix planting of evergreen and deciduous trees, if space allows, can be an attractive solution.

We also have a range of pleached trees which can be used in the same way; pleached trees can be effective for a formal screen and where space is limited.

Pro Landscaper Nursery Factfile

Practicality Brown have a full page editorial feature in the January 2017 edition of industry publication, Pro Landscaper in their Nursery Factfile section.

Pro Landscaper

Pro Landscaper January 2017

Our top five bestselling plants

  1. Prunus laurocerasus Novita semi mature trees
  2. Carpinus betulus pleached tree (great for screening)
  3. Betula jacquemontii semi mature trees
  4. Practicality Brown Instant Native Hedge
  5. Elveden Instant Hedge Green Beech

Pro Landscaper also sourced some testimonials from top Garden designers to accompany the feature with thanks to

Rae Wilkinson

We used an instant hedge from Practicality Brown for our RHS Hampton Court garden this year. I had struggled to find what I was looking for with other suppliers and Practicality Brown was extremely helpful and accommodating.  It found what I wanted and sent me photos prior to delivery as I was not able to visit to hand pick them. I have specified its hedging on other projects which has always been good quality.

Tracy Foster

I have loved working with Practicality Brown over the years because I know it offers sturdy field grown stock, including the lovely mixed native hedging that I recently ordered for RHS Chelsea.  The other great thing about ordering is the service, which is always friendly and helpful.  Its cliché but really nothing is too much trouble.

Paul Martin

I have had the pleasure of working with Practicality Brown on major projects and show gardens over the years. It has helped enormously in our attaining of three Gold medals at RHS shows including Chelsea and Hampton Court, which is a testament to its staff, products and company

and Lisa Cox

I worked with Practicality Brown on a domestic project where we needed to screen off a house. We wanted a solution that would do the job from day one and chose Elveden beech instant hedging. This was more subtle than a wall or fence and looked amazing from day one – you wouldn’t have known it had just been planted