Tree suggestions please

AnAngryBunny

Hi,

I don't know much about trees apart from they look nice.

I'd like to grow one in my small front garden.  There did used to be one there but it was cut down a few years ago. 

In the attached photo you can see the neighbours tree (on the left) is pretty big, I don't know what type that is.  Also there is a little tree already on my garden which my other neighbour planted but hasn't grown in 3 years.  

I'd like one already 10 feet high so I don't have to wait years for it to grow.

I'd like green leaves, would a maple tree be a good choice?  Any ideas welcome.

Mark

Hostafan1

Welcome to the Forum.
Beware of endless bird poo on the cars parked underneath it. 

AnAngryBunny

Hostafan1 said:

Welcome to the Forum.
Beware of endless bird poo on the cars parked underneath it. 

Thanks - good point, the one in the photo is a hire car, so I wouldn't mind if they pooped on that.

K67

To buy in a 10ft tree if you can find one in stock will cost well over £100.
In that situation you need an upright tree which doesn't spread too far.
Try online tree suppliers  
https://www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/ who supply larger sized trees.

Cambridgerose12

I wouldn't hesitate to get a bare-root young sapling. You will find that by year 3 it will have grown well past the 10 foot mark, and more than overtaken a hugely expensive specimen you buy now. Also you will have infinitely less need to do lots and lots of watering. In other words you will end up being very happy! (even if at first it looks small). The one your neighbour put in is probably a one that was not bare root and is still struggling to grow enough roots to support itself. These quite often fail within a few years. For long-term success, bare-root is much better.

There are some good sites for bare-root trees online:
https://www.mailordertrees.co.uk/collections/ornamental-trees

Ideally, too, you would be better off waiting and planting this autumn rather than now--the sap is already rising and they will be growing roots in autumn. 

Then, there are loads of options. It depends on what kind of effect you are most drawn to. There are beautiful forms of rowan like 'Joseph Rock' or 'Eastern Promise' that have brilliant autumn colour and lots of berries for the birds. There are spring-flowering trees that will give you blossom, like magnolias, and some will also give autumn colour--notably the flowering cherries. Prunus x subhirtella 'Autumnalis Rosea' is fabulous as it flowers from late November until March, in mild spells through the winter. Acer griseum has leaves that emerge bright red, turn bright green, then go red again in autumn, and it has shiny mahogany bark. Some other Acers have scarlet autumn colour, like 'Autumn Blaze'. Also, there are strongly architectural trees like Carpinus betulus 'Frans Fontaine', which makes an egg-shaped tree with leaves that turn butter-yellow in the autumn. One that I particularly love myself is Koelreuteria japonica--it has amazing leaves and yellow flowers in late summer. You can Google all these or check on the site above, and if anything else catches your eye, come back and ask! We'd be happy to help.

The only ones I would counsel against in your spot would be large trees, any birches (which have invasive roots), and Robinia 'Frisia' which is badly affected by fungal disease. The Acer palmatum forms need shade, so are unsuitable. 

AnAngryBunny

Thanks for the comprehensive reply, loads of information for me to look into.
I don't want the hassle of watering it loads so bare-root sapling seems the way to go.
Also having to wait until Autum is no big deal.

I'll go check out the websites and start googling!