The flowers of Sorbus hupehensis

This is National Tree Week, I have to confess that every week in the year could be so called but why not flag up their importance at a time when we can be planting pot grown and/or bare root specimens? Well, as it turns out that would be fine if the ground wasn’t covered in 30cm of snow, as I write.

Yes I am a tree-a-holic, from the mightiest oaks and pines to the dwarf specimens we plant in the miniature landscape of the rock garden. Apart from Christmas trees, my earliest memory of a close relationship with a single tree takes me back to the forties. 'The gang' had a favourite picnic spot at Fairy Hill in my hometown of Kilmarnock. There was a gnarled old thorn, easy to climb and with a number of features which likened it unto a Lancaster bomber!  Most notably two stout branches next to one another that curved to form an excellent aperture from which to release the bombs or indeed to parachute into a grassy hollow below.

That Monkey Puzzle in a suburban front garden

Since that time, I have planted hundreds of trees of all sorts and cared for many more. I have favourites galore but in my current top ten, numero uno would have to be the Rowan Tree (Mountain Ash), a member of the Sorbus family. Wearing my adviser's hat, I use the expression 'a value for money plant' and in that regard the Rowan is hard to beat. Nowadays, I am mostly advising private gardeners, the bulk of them living in suburbia and that brings me to one of the key considerations when choosing any plant - but especially trees - and that is scale. My photo shows an example of how wrong the choice of specimen can be! This Monkey Puzzle was twice the height of the house and is still growing!

So why does the Rowan in its many varied guises come top of my list?

• It is tolerant of a wide range of soil types
• There is sufficient variety in vigour to suit small to large gardens
• Foliage is comparatively light weight and doesn’t create dense shade
• The range of foliage types is fascinating - Sorbus vilmorinii being my choice
• Handsome flower trusses in early summer - Sorbus hupehensis comes tops
• Glorious range of fruits from white through pink to red, orange and yellow
• To cap that lot, many have stunning autumn foliage

Our Sorbus ‘Joseph Rock’ caught in the autumn sunlight, in the company of A. nobilis behind and P. pungens glauca in front.

In our last garden, we had six or seven different species/cultivars and it was fascinating to watch the pecking order develop as the season progressed. The blackbirds always started on S. commixta, I swear I’ve seen 6 or 7 of them, as Labrador dogs, gorging themselves like there was no tomorrow – and all that before the fruits were fully coloured – we never saw the tree in it’s fruiting glory but the actions of the 'budgies' was ample compensation.  The preference was definitely for red and orange/red fruits. Only when winter really began to limit choice did they turn to pink, that's when S. hupehensis got the treatment.

What are your favourite trees? Are you planting any trees this season?