Prunus amanogawa for screening

lorrainehiggs99

I’ve bought a prunus amanogawa to help screen a neighbour’s bedroom window. I did lots of research and am happy I’ve picked the right tree.
I just need to know, how close I can plant next to the fence?
I don’t want to plant any further from the fence than necessary as we have a beautiful ‘side on’ view that we don’t want to screen.
i hope that last part makes sense.

Uff

Hello lorraine, welcome to the forum. The RHS says it has an ultimate spread of 2.5 to 4 metres so if you want it to keep clear of your neighbours garden it needs to be 2 metres from the fence.

Fairygirl

I'd have said 2 metres spread at most for those, but bearing in mind their habit, the canopy would largely be above fence height - even a 6 foot fence, and it wouldn't cause too much bother with a neighbouring garden. 
How near the fence you plant will depend on how good the site and soil is, and your climate etc, as much as anything. How near your house as well. There's often a rain shadow, which can make a difference to the establishment and growth of any tree.
A photo of the general area would help with advice too.   

Pete.8

I had one for about 20 years. It did get to 15ft+ but was never more than a metre or so wide. I've seen several others locally and they are similar.
I had it taken out to widen the drive and the remaining stum was about 16" across.
I'd say planting about 3ft minimum from the fence would be ok, but more if you can

lorrainehiggs99

Thanks for the welcome and replies.

I’ll try to post a pic in a day or two. I’ve recently had my garden landscaped and never really planted trees before.

It’s more the roots and potential damage I’m concerned about. And also making sure the canopy doesn’t obscure the view of Mow Cop Castle. 

We did take out a large cherry tree when clearing the plot and the trunk of that was a similar size to what Pete.8 mentions. That tree was right up against the fence for some reason, but no damage was caused to fence panels and gravel boards.

Thanks for the advice so far, Lorraine.

Pete.8

I found an old photo from 2011 of mine -
I'd forgotten just how wide it got....



But with some extendable loppers, the width is easily controlled

Do bear in mind that they are very pretty for about 10 days a year (as long as it doesn't rain too much) and for the rest of the year it's just a green column or a bare column of branches - the autumn colours of the leaves is good before they drop though

PS - mine was planted about 6" behind the front wall 🤔

lorrainehiggs99

That looks lovely. It is a shame that blossom doesn’t last long. 
I’ll definitely try and keep mine a bit narrower for the place I have in mind. 
Thanks for the pic.

Cambridgerose12

I agree that they are not attractive when out of flower. I have a tiny garden so I did a fair bit of research into columnar trees. I ended up getting Cercidiphyllum 'Rotfuchs', which really has stayed very narrow indeed; after ten years it's still only 1 m wide and has impeccable manners.