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Trees on sale in Supermarket (1 Viewer)

J

Jonathan Hare

Well-known member
Whilst doing a bit of shopping in Morrisons last week, I noticed on sale were a selection of trees (Ornamental Trees, as they had on the packaging), which they were numerous speicies of trees in the selection which included Silver Birch for £1.99 each the birch was around about 4 foot tall. How fast growing are the Silver Birch and how tall will they grow to.

Buy one and help wildlife and also help in the combat of so called global warming.
 
Jonathan Hare said:
Whilst doing a bit of shopping in Morrisons last week, I noticed on sale were a selection of trees (Ornamental Trees, as they had on the packaging), which they were numerous speicies of trees in the selection which included Silver Birch for £1.99 each the birch was around about 4 foot tall. How fast growing are the Silver Birch and how tall will they grow to.

Buy one and help wildlife and also help in the combat of so called global warming.
Click to expand...

Silver birch trees are a very environmentally friendly tree for your garden, very good for wildlife gardening. They are native to Britain and second only to the oak for numbers of fauna species living on/in it. They are fairly fast growing, compared to, say, oak. I have two in my garden that were planted 17 years ago and the trunks at the base are about 7" across and they are maybe 30' tall. There are nearly always birds in it. So I would say, if your garden is big enough for it, go for it, plant several if you've room. You won't regret it.

Joanne
 
Hi Jonathan

We speaking from the same hymn sheet here!

All my garden trees are from Woolworths about 3 and half years ago. I bought a Silver Birch, two Cherry Trees and two Apple Trees also a laburnum.

The Silver Birch was an 3' twig with 2 shoots when I bought it. It is now doing beautifully and over 13' feet tall so I guess it's grown roughly 3 foot per year. The most important thing to remember for the first two years of planting is to keep them well watered - I used bucket loads the first year all through the summer! Now birds like Tits, Robin, Wren and even Chiffchaff, use the tree for food - the birch attracts moth caterpillars which can strip the tree but I decided after the first year not to remove them, now the birds do the gardening.

Ps Don't worry about the height, you can always have them pruned - one of the reasons I chose Birch, other than those Joanne mentioned, was that the leaves are very light and hence doesn't block out too much light for other peoples gardens - when you're leaving in a tightly packed residential area, that's one of the things to consider - The fruit trees also have lovely blossom so concession to the neighbours there as well as lots of Aphids and fruit flies for the tits etc. All the apples that grow, I chop up for the Blackbirds, Thrushes (and squirrels!)
 
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We have a silver birch in the front garden and it must be nearly 40 feet tall. Treecreepers, nuthatches and GSW all love it, as do the blue tits, great tits, LTTs, and coal tits. They are one of my favourite trees. The only (personal) downside is that the catkins set off my and my son's hayfever.
 
Jonathan Hare said:
Whilst doing a bit of shopping in Morrisons last week, I noticed on sale were a selection of trees (Ornamental Trees, as they had on the packaging), which they were numerous speicies of trees in the selection which included Silver Birch for £1.99 each the birch was around about 4 foot tall. How fast growing are the Silver Birch and how tall will they grow to.

Buy one and help wildlife and also help in the combat of so called global warming.
Click to expand...

As I have just cleared an area of what used to be my vegetable patch I thought that five Silver Birch trees would be great for this patch. I paid my first visit to the local Morrissons for several years and the flower and plant section was just inside the door.
I looked in vain for any Silver Birch trees so my wife asked one of the Assistants only to be told that the offer was last week and they had all gone.
However, a little further down the aisle I saw a bin with trees sticking out the top and whilst they appeared to be all apple trees I thought it worth a closer look. I soon found a Silver Birch tree and then another and another and another. To complete my purchase I found a Rowan tree also at £1.99.
Thanks for posting this Jonathan, I am off now to plant them. Roger
 
Well at least Im able to help people pick up some bargains. Told the local pet shop owners about the deal and they couldn't believe it either.

Do I go and buy one and stick in the middle of the garden where it has well and truly over grown and say that I know nothing about it, it must of grown from some bird droppings. I wouldn't think he would notice untill it gets large. Since there are bushes and shrubs growing wildly and hasnt been tended to for over a year or more. lol
 
Jonathan Hare said:
Whilst doing a bit of shopping in Morrisons last week, I noticed on sale were a selection of trees which included Silver Birch for £1.99 each the birch was around about 4 foot tall. How fast growing are the Silver Birch and how tall will they grow to. .
Click to expand...
I wish they had these in our branch of Morrisons but sadly no. They are great fast growing trees that are good for birds too.
 
Cyclops said:
They are great fast growing trees that are good for birds too.
Click to expand...


I'll say it again, silver birch are IMO the best wildlife tree you can plant in any garden in Britain so everyone who is reading this should plant at least one if they have the space. Oak are good too but 99% of gardens are too small and they take forever to grow. (So plant an oak for your grandchildren;)) .

Joanne
 
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Cyclops said:
I wish they had these in our branch of Morrisons but sadly no. They are great fast growing trees that are good for birds too.
Click to expand...

In my branch of Morrisons they weren't in the garden section where you would expect, but they were further in the store in the middle of the fruit and veg section.
 
joannechattaway said:
I'll say it again, silver birch are IMO the best wildlife tree you can plant in any garden in Britain so everyone who is reading this should plant at least one if they have the space.

Joanne
Click to expand...
Well i have one in training as a bonsai,planted out in the garden at the mo ;)
 
joannechattaway said:
Well that won't attract much wildlife! :stuck: ;) LOL

Joanne
Click to expand...
Ah but you see i get lots of cuttings from it so i can grow my own! Oh be aware folks,when pruning birches they bleed profusely and you should treat the wound with some sealant,i use vaseline.
 
Hi ya all. Picked up on this thread kinda late but have to agree generally with all the posts so far. The small trees offered by Morrisons are great value. Silver Birch is an ideal tree for a reasonable size garden, and is a fairly good wildlife magnet (once it is mature enough to support a reasonable insect population). But in my humble opinion, the better tree to consider is the Rowan (mountain ash). No reason why you can't have both (or several!)
We have quite a lot of both species in our garden and I reckon the Rowan is more attractive to birds.
Okay, since I also have 6 acres of mixed woodland, including mature oaks and this is a more wildlife 'active' zone, the trees and big shrubs in the garden are still an important resource for the birds.
The moral here is: no matter how small your garden, you can find room for a native or ornamental tree that will help and attract birds (and other wildlife).
I know it's a small thing but planting a tree reduces our own carbon footprint.
 
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Mynydd Merlin said:
in my humble opinion, the better tree to consider is the Rowan (mountain ash). No reason why you can't have both (or several!)
We have quite a lot of both species in our garden and I reckon the Rowan is more attractive to birds.

The moral here is: no matter how small your garden, you can find room for a native or ornamental tree that will help and attract birds (and other wildlife).
Click to expand...
Yes the Rowan is an excellent tree. Its white fragrant flowers attract insects and its red berries attract the birds! Also it looks bloody good in autumn! I have a domestic plum in my garden that was here when we moved in,not sure how good the fruit is for wildlife but the flowers certainly are!
 
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Mynydd Merlin said:
But in my humble opinion, the better tree to consider is the Rowan (mountain ash). .
Click to expand...


Yes, rowan is another excellent native tree and very attractive too. It, however, does not do well on clay soils, doesn't like it's roots too wet. Had one in my garden, which is clay. It struggled and eventually died but I remember one year when a mass of fieldfare arrived and stripped it of berries in a few hours. Great sight.

Joanne
 
joannechattaway said:
Yes, rowan is another excellent native tree and very attractive too. It, however, does not do well on clay soils, doesn't like it's roots too wet. Had one in my garden, which is clay. It struggled and eventually died but I remember one year when a mass of fieldfare arrived and stripped it of berries in a few hours. Great sight.

Joanne
Click to expand...
all we used to get on my mom's Rowan were starlings,loads of em!
 
I'll simply agree with Joanne and Mynydd's comments re birch and rowan and am delighted bf-ers are tucking into the cheap tree offers.

One point to note if buying rowan or birch from garden centres on the cheap (especially those bargain buckets where they end up with old, slightly tatty stock (an excellent source of plant material)) is that if you want natives you need to make sure you are buying the native birch or rowan. Most places nowadays will sell a number of "silver birches" and "mountain ash/rowans" that are not native. They are invariably also excellent wildlife trees but are not native if that's whats floating your boat.
 
yea and most silver birches planted by the council round here arent in fact the true native Betula pendula but a hybrid with a much whiter bark.

Also some Rowans have berries of a different colour and I think I'm right in saying that birds prefer the red ones of the native to those yellow or white beries of the fancy cultivars.
 
Isurus said:
I'll simply agree with Joanne and Mynydd's comments re birch and rowan and am delighted bf-ers are tucking into the cheap tree offers.

One point to note if buying rowan or birch from garden centres on the cheap (especially those bargain buckets where they end up with old, slightly tatty stock (an excellent source of plant material)) is that if you want natives you need to make sure you are buying the native birch or rowan. Most places nowadays will sell a number of "silver birches" and "mountain ash/rowans" that are not native. They are invariably also excellent wildlife trees but are not native if that's whats floating your boat.
Click to expand...

Hi Isurus

I think what you are referring to is that many of them are grown in Holland and while not actually grown in Britain, if the species are Betula pendula
 (silver birch) or Sorbus aucuparia (rowan), then they are native species. Purists may argue the point but personally I don't think it matters, what's important is that they are excellent plants for wildlife, irrespective of whether they are grown in the Uk or Holland.

Joanne
 
Cyclops said:
Also some Rowans have berries of a different colour and I think I'm right in saying that birds prefer the red ones of the native to those yellow or white beries of the fancy cultivars.
Click to expand...


Hi Cyclops

You are right, there are many cultivars of rowan, some with red, orange, yellow and even white berries. Probably you are right when you say birds prefer the red. There could be reasons for planting a variety instead of the specie, such as maybe because the garden is small and there isn't room for a full size rowan, or birch for that matter, so a variety whose ultimate size is smaller may be more appropriote. In this case it is better to plant a variety than no tree. Being close to or a hybrid of, a native will still attract wildlife, just may not be quite as effective.

Joanne
 
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