Well Wednesday has been tree day. Ricky and I set off for Broadmead container tree nursery (about 200 yards up the road from the office) armed with the site plan and the list of big trees we reserved last autumn. The trouble is at Broadmead nothing looks massive, because its all so big!
Why we bother to select trees in October I'll never know - it seems like a good idea at the time. When it comes to final selection we change our minds on most things. What were we going to do with 8 pines and two massive thujas? - Think I was in a "Save the Fir" mode. I remember saying that we had done a lot of birches and it was time to give them a rest. What did we choose today? - yes, you guessed it - birches. And beeches funnily enough - we rejected the weepers and chose the golden and quirky purple ones - notorious for aphids but clean so far.Anyway our selection is tagged and will be loaded on Friday to arrive in London on Saturday. These big trees need to be placed before the pathways and other hard landscaping features are completed - the fabric of the garden is literally built around them.
My favourite tree so far? its hard to say but I was seduced by a huge Zelkova serrata - I'll put it alongside the monument and visitors will walk beneath its branches and translucent leaves. I love the Acer platanoides 'Globosum' - difficult to transport because it is so brittle but stunningly different all the same. Personally I like purple foliage so for me a Prunus cerasifera 'Nigra' is an essential and ours still has a hint of rich Merlot about its canopy - perhaps that's why I like it.Rick has promised me cherries in bloom and we may even manage the odd Magnolia. My adventure amonst the trees? - Platanus orientalis 'Minarette' - silver grey bark, deeply cut leaves and branches hanging
with dangly rich brown felty earrings - devastatingly seductive! - I'll take two.Loading tomorrow...............
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