Large trees wanted

[Swissbarry]

We're aiming to build a house on a piece of land which has lovely views but which is flat and lacking in features.  I'd like to put in some large trees (at my age, waiting 5 or 10 years for saplings to mature is not an attractive option).  Can anyone advise me on where and how I might find someone who specialises in supplying / planting / transplanting large trees?  Failing that, I'd appreciate advice on how to tackle the job myself if I have to: which trees to go for, where to find them, how to set about it, and possible costs.

 

We live near Nontron, in the northern Dordogne.

[Teamedup]

I obviously don't know where you can buy such trees over there. But friends bought a lot of trees last year, from tiny ones to very well established ones. They had a nerve wracking time as spring started as it looked like a couple of the established ones may not have made it through the winter. And these two for all they cost hundreds of pounds, they realised were not under guarantee. All the others which flourished as spring started were from places that did guarantees.  As it happened everything made it through.

Still something to think of when buying an expensive tree.

[Tresco]

Hi

You can plant pot grown trees any time of the year, and you can buy quite big ones, say up to 15ft form plenty of ordinary garden centres. You could also get this sort of size, and much bigger, from a Forrestiere or from a Peppiniere, try the pages jaune or google for your area, or ask your neighbs. Ask your neighbs what grows well, although check your and their soil types, they may be very different.

If you are not here all year I would not recommend this though, (planting now) as they need to be watered constantly.

We had ours planted by the firm, it was November, the optimum time here for planting big things, and insured for one year after planting.

Some of the trees we had planted we could have done ourselves, others, well there was no way, the tree and the soil would have been to heavy. The men had a mini crane and a digger. We had I think 15 trees bought and planted which cost about E3,000 But it gave us instant structure to the garden.

If I were you I would do my scouting about now, visiting tree suppliers so you can see what is available, and see them in leaf, order in September those that need planting for you (in November or early December) and buy the ones you can put in yourself as you see them.

Alternatively, you would be astonished at how quickly a very young, small tree can grow, compared to the larger ones. I once saw a tv programme where someone had a mini wood which had been planted as 4ft high 'whips' 5 years previously, at the same time as planting a few 15 foot high trees as specimins. There was a negligible difference between the heights of the two lots of trees.

For this reason, and the cost we went for a mixture.

Enough rambling in the woods, hope this is some help.

[zeb]

Hi SB, have you tried the pepinière just north of Montbron on the La Rochefoucauld road? They seem to have a super selection of shrubs and trees - all very healthy looking. If they can't help you from their selection I'm sure they will know a man who can!

[Swissbarry]

Thank you all for that helpful advice.  I know the nursery at Montbron, and will try them, although I'm looking for something significantly bigger than the pot-grown trees usually found in such centres.  And yes, I will wait until the Autumn.  And I will try some pepinieres and Yellow Pages.

Thanks again.

[Mpprh]

Hi

After the floods down here, 10m plantain saplings appeared in many areas to replace the trees washed away.

It also quite common to see large olive trees appear in new developments.

There must be specialists for this. I wonder if it is worth enquiring at your local mairie ?

Peter