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Science/nature/environment

How many trees.......

(55 Posts)
grannyactivist Sat 16-Nov-19 03:34:07

.........do you have in your garden?

This is the Centenary Year of Forestry England - and from the aborted sell off the conservatives planned just a few years ago, they have now decided that we need millions more trees.

If every household planted two trees, this is still only about 3% of the total number of trees the Woodland Trust estimates the UK needs to plant by 2050 in order to reach net zero emissions - 1.5 billion. So, if you have a garden and/or allotment, how many trees do you have - and are you planning to plant any (more)?

We have 10 trees:
1 birch
1 rowan
1 fig
2 plum
2 pear
1 cherry
2 apples

SueDonim Sat 16-Nov-19 13:37:05

We've got:

a sycamore
white flowering cherry
Twisted witch hazel
A couple of rowans
An unidentified small evergreen
An unidentified large evergreen
Beech hedge
Leylandii that predates us.
Elderflower.

I'm surrounded by woodland, though, living in rural Scotland. smile

If you're interested in trees, then this book, The Hidden Life of Trees will fascinate you. I feel quite sorry for garden specimens now.

www.amazon.co.uk/Hidden-Life-Trees-International-Communicate/dp/0008218439/ref=sr_1_1?hvlocphy=1007341&hvnetw=g&keywords=the+hidden+life+of+trees&hvadid=259097718950&qid=1573911362&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIz_DP1-zu5QIVQbDtCh3fqQvQEAAYASAAEgIX2PD_BwE&hydadcr=24431_1748949&hvpos=1t1&hvdev=t&hvqmt=b&tag=gransnetforum-21&hvtargid=aud-615477028318%3Akwd-363055076117&adgrpid=56946435281&hvrand=3096887415259616748&sr=8-1

crystaltipps Sat 16-Nov-19 13:41:18

Paper bags will biodegrade in the ground unlike plastic which will be there for hundreds of years , killing wildlife and degrading the oceans. That’s why paper is preferable to plastic, surprises anyone did not realise that. It’s a renewable resource.

Alexa Sat 16-Nov-19 13:45:32

Good advice NFKDumpling. I like rowan for small gardens as they feed birds on berries and bees on blossom. They don't have invasive roots. They keep witches away.

merlotgran Sat 16-Nov-19 13:52:20

We have forty poplar trees which form the boundary of our field.
Twenty Thuja plicata conifers forming a screen between us and a railway line.
Four Scots pines at the front of the house which act as a windbreak.
Five apple trees.
One greengage, two plum and two pear trees.
One Mirabelle and one ornamental cherry.
One Gleditsia triacanthos 'Sunburst'
One Ash (no dieback!)
One silver birch
Two Lime trees
One Liriodendron (Tulip Tree)
One Holme Oak
One Abelia grandiflora
One Corylus avellana 'contorta'
Two Lime green conifers
Various elders which self seed and grow like mad if we don't yank them out
Six silver birch saplings planted in October.

It's a wildlife haven but a little too wild at the moment due to DH being ill for three months but hopefully we'll be 'on it' when he's better.

threexnanny Sat 16-Nov-19 15:20:23

I've now counted ours and have been surprised as just how many we've squeezed into an average town garden.
2 rowan
1 silver birch
1 fig
1 tamarisk
1 yew
1 apple
1 plum
3 lilac
1 maple
4 acer
1 cotinus (smoke tree)
4 acer
also two conifers grown to about 20 ft, a sambucus nigra and philadelphus which are not much shorter. At the moment we have a witch hazel in a pot but should be planted out soon if we can find a space! Recently lost a laburnum and a schumack.

timetogo2016 Sat 16-Nov-19 15:31:21

6 conifers and weeds.
FRONT AND BACK.
The other half can kill artificial plants.

DazedAndConfusedByLife Sat 16-Nov-19 15:32:41

We have a very large garden, so in the bit closest to the house, we have 2 oak trees and a lime tree, 1 apple tree and a dwarf conifer.

Through the gate to a line of conifers , 2 walnut trees, horse chestnut trees, conifers on all 3 sides, Ash and Silver Birch, weeping willows, 2 more apple trees, and a pear tree. Lots of bushes too. At the front to the right we have a row of conifer between us and next door and conifer at the front.

We live rurally, if you couldn't guess grin

We share the leaf clearing between us. It's a 24/7 job!

annodomini Sat 16-Nov-19 16:05:30

Small house and garden:
1 Rowan (yellow berries)
1 Ornamental malus
1 Red maple
1 small weeping maple
Lots of shrubs including Cornus Mas which is bigger than some trees.
Overshadowed by enormous birch the other side of the stream as well as a number of conifers and a beautiful oak.

MiniMoon Sat 16-Nov-19 16:14:01

I forgot they lilac tree at our gate! And there's another young tree that DH put in a container, I don't know what it is, I think it's a maple of some description.

NfkDumpling Sat 16-Nov-19 16:31:35

I’ve just been out clearing leaves. And had another count up - if I include the magnolias and Garia Eliptica and a palm which looks nice but is neither use to man nor beast and the ornamental cherry we put in behind the shed we’ve 20 trees in the back garden! Several are not very long lived but fast growing and several are quite small and will outlive the others as they get bigger so it’s not going to turn into a forest. Although our neighbours have planted even more than us so we will have a sizeable wood!

NfkDumpling Sat 16-Nov-19 16:32:47

And of course we have a Rowan by the front gate to keep the bad witches away. Good witches welcome.

FlexibleFriend Sat 16-Nov-19 17:26:31

From memory about 12 trees all but 2 planted by me. I won't plant any more unless the ones I have die off.

callgirl1 Sun 17-Nov-19 01:11:02

None, I don`t have a garden, just a back yard.

grannyactivist Sun 17-Nov-19 02:00:22

It seems we’re doing our bit in the tree growing stakes Gransnetters. ?

I didn’t count shrubs and hedges, although of course they’re all doing their bit for the environment too - and I forgot to mention the lovely acer in my front garden that puts on a splendid show at this time of the year.

threexnanny Sun 17-Nov-19 13:34:25

I've been looking at making a gift of a tree to be planted in woodland for some friends celebrating their anniversary. I know they are decluttering and don't want more 'stuff'. Has anyone done this and was it well received?

Alexa Mon 18-Nov-19 17:41:01

I changed from google to ecosia for my preferred search engine because ecosia plants trees in exchange for activity there.

Septimia Mon 18-Nov-19 17:59:13

2 sycamores
1 wych elm
1 ash
1 Scots pine (and one baby one in a pot)
1 holly
3 wild cherries
2 apples
2 crabapples
1 lilac (does that count?)
and about a dozen very big conifers about twice the height of the house!

I've probably missed something out but, as it's wet and dark outside, I'm not going out to count!

Keeping self-seeded sycamores and ash trees under control is a constant challenge.

Nannytopsy Mon 18-Nov-19 18:13:59

We left a Judas tree, an Irish Yew, a Victoria plum and a bay in our small town garden. Here we have a huge walnut, an apple ( dying, coming out), elder (coming out) and privet (coming out!). I am looking forward to choosing new trees. We have a crab apple, Judas and eucalyptus in pots ready to go in.

Nannytopsy Mon 18-Nov-19 18:14:43

Forgot to mention about a dozen walnut trees planted by the squirrel!

Hetty58 Mon 18-Nov-19 18:22:56

timetogo2016, your 'weeds' are also important native wildflowers, essential for the wildlife!

LullyDully Tue 19-Nov-19 08:14:08

mamacaz yes I was wondering about shrubs helping the environment too. I can't think why not.

MamaCaz Tue 19-Nov-19 08:41:47

Me neither, LullyDully

It actually seems rather short-sighted that advice generally seems to concentrate solely on the need to plant 'trees'.
I am sure that much more thought for the environmentwould be put into the planting of smaller gardens and outside spaces if that advice was changed to 'trees and bushes', or something like that.

As it stands, most people hear 'trees', think 'I don't have room for those', then, understandably, dismiss the whole subject from their minds.

LullyDully Tue 19-Nov-19 09:40:34

Yes, you are right. A logical argument should include bushes and shrubs. No room for a horse chestnut , much as I would like it.

Alexa Tue 19-Nov-19 10:13:47

Oh I love horse chestnut trees such happy memory of my chum's swing underneath hers

MamaCaz Tue 19-Nov-19 10:36:06

I would like a walnut tree - I do keep looking at the bottom of our long but narrow back garden, wondering whether to go for it.
Eventually it would overhang the gardens either side, not to mention obscure both our and the neighbours' views of the lovely fields beyond, so I think it might be less selfish of me to stick with the smaller things that are currently growing there, which include a young apple tree. I might plant another of those down there instead. Or a laburnum - I love laburnum!