Award-winning garden designer and tree grower, Jamie Butterworth of tree, shrub and topiary nursery Form Plants explains how to grow trees in small gardens. As well as some interesting tree recommendations, he also shows how you can restrict the height of larger trees by pleaching, pollarding, coppicing and growing them in pots. The results are beautiful!
00:00 Welcome
00:30 Form Plants: https://www.formplants.com/
00:45 What are the main factors to consider when choosing a tree for a small garden
01:15 Think about how the tree will look in 5/10/15 years time
01:40 Check what it will add to your garden in all 4 seasons
03:34 Barcham Tree Finder service: https://www.barcham.co.uk/store/
04:41 Narrow town garden with tall trees
04:46 How tall should a ‘small garden tree’ be?
05:04 Ways of restricting the height of larger trees to make them suitable for small gardens
05:32 Pleached beech – growing on a frame and clipped yearly
05:42 Other shapes that restrict the size of large trees
06:20 If you already have a large tree in your garden, don’t cut it down before checking whether you can prune or trim it down to size
07:40 Which trees are suitable for pollarding?
08:36 The best garden tree for privacy
09:25 Reduce the height of trees by creating multi-stemmed or coppiced trees
09:45 Topiarise larger trees to make them suitable for smaller gardens
13:49 Re-potting trees using the Airpot wrap-around potting system https://air-pot.com/
11:35 Grow trees in pots to restrict the size
09:55 A good tree for wildlife
14:51 Jamie’s Garden For A Green Future at RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden show (for more show ideas, see: https://youtu.be/_156XefeVk8)
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45 Comments
By any chance, do you or Jamie know if trees grown in the ground and are severely shaped as they grow will still grow large trunks and root systems?
I ask because it may seem tempting for gardeners to grow them near houses and fences assuming small tree, then small roots. Thanks.
Brilliant! Thank you so much, Alexandra and Jamie!
I have three potted horse chestnuts-each now about 6foot high and one about a foot high – and three quite small oak trees…I felt guilty for not releasing them into the ground but after watching this i am at peace with them being in pots …thankyou for such informative and may i also say restorative videos 🙂
‘50 Plants you can’t kill’ sounds like a book I need right away.
I have a golden conifer with minima at the end of its Latin name. I but it on the front of a newly made border in my then new house.
A
As we owned a newsagents it got left to its own devices. That was in the spring of 1988 it just seemed to grow from its 6 inches to its present height of 6 feet.
In the autumn the colour is a light greenish yellow but in spring long through the kitchen window it earns its name corononus aurea minima. I can safely say it was well worth £1-00 I spent on a 2.5 inch pot plant.
The soil is clay. The builder skimmed the grass of before building and spread the spoil from the foundations but most things grow..
Another brilliant post ! Lots of ideas here ! I appreciate how well thought in regards to choosing your guests
Thanks !!
Loved this video and Jamie’s expertise will help me in my current quest to find a tree. I might even venture down to Form. Thank you.
Would be great to have a walk around his tree nursery while he talked about each of them.
Better to ask a professional arborist, not a man who sells trees, really bad example of a Pollard lime tree. Ok not all people that sell trees are just sales men/women, but we as Arborist love trees and we know what we are talking about, but look for a professional.
Hahahahaha.
Genuinely this video was so helpful. A handful of things I knew already but darn I just didn't think about doing a soil test. Turns out I have a very clayey soil on the extreame end.
My favourite tree is acer campestre.
So inspiring 😍 I planted a small cornus kousa last year but its leaves had black spots all over. I'm hoping it will have recovered this year
I loved this video but would love to have had the photos stay on screen longer. It seemed that when you showed shots of the gardens/trees the photo was so brief that I had to keep rewinding so that I could take a screenshot. I love seeing you and your speakers, but would really love more time to view the garden photos. I live in South Dakota, USA and am zone 4b so many of the trees and plants you show will either not grow here or would be annuals. In spite of this, I still learn so much general information that I can easily adapt to my planting area. Thanks for great videos and guest speakers.
I love how all the guests that wait for Alexandra to finish the intro look at her like she's the most adorable person ever.
I know I'm going to studying this video by repeat views because there was so much valuable information.
I would love to see the both of you do a series and a wonderful tour of the grounds if you are both receptive to the idea.
This is was brilliant.
Thank you both! 🙏
This is as good as a gardening tv programme! Great content.
Superb video. Thx. I’m zone 7b in the states and this still brought great value to my gardening life and planting plans.
Insurance companies charge higher premiums for large trees too near to a house because of the subsidence risk.
Love this ~
I consider myself a master gardener but I too fail at times to Invision what the long run is with choosing a tree. Sometimes the tree or nursery tricks you! I bought what was supposed to be and looked like a weeping atlas cedar to plant at my parents house that I hate to say didn't get to visit too often due to debt slavery….plus hours away. Anyway I planted it in the center piece bed as the center piece. My parents not giving a damn bout trees failed to tell it shot straight up. So the next time I was there I didn't have time to move it and 15 years down the road a 20 foot atlas cedar was standing. My bad run of luck landed me back at my parents and a couple years ago I noticed sap suckers a protected bird had scoured a huge hole in the bark at the first row of limbs. Needless to say no new growth came that following spring…. The little flying bastards killed it. Tho it wasn't what I envisioned or purchased I grew quite fond of the beautiful tree. So it had to come down now unless I rent a stump grinder there's no center piece in a landscape designed around it. It sucks when you buy a mistake that you fall in love with. Yes if you can't tell I love trees and I cried like a baby when it died. Damn sap suckers
I have some super old lilac bushes (the home is 112 y.o. so ??) that I trimmed the lower branches off of to make them look like multi-trunked trees. Just gorgeous.
Good timing on this as I am looking into trees for my very small front garden here in Wales. I will have to grow in pots as the ground is rock hard. My main problem has been finding suppliers of decent potted trees in South Wales, so any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks for the great advice on this video.
Can you separate hydrangeas? I got some for Easter seems there are many outshoots …..can I separate yo make more ?? Or not smart ?
This was exactly what I needed, information about trees for our small garden. In fact, several of the selections were on my short list! That made choosing vastly easier!
A great fresh look at choosing trees for the small garden, Jamie provided lots of good ideas.
I don't understand this chaps website – they don't see to sell go the public have I understood that correctly?
Very helpful facts for newbie gardeners.
Whan is it safe to transfer a baby angel trumpets from the flower pots and what steps to take?
I bought some Air Pots and haven’t had much success with them. Probably because one needs to water them daily and I didn’t.
Informative, trendy and all inclusive 👏. My favourite go to for the latest trends and information ❤️
I enjoy your videos I have very small garden and have 16 trees and love every one I have strawberrie tree and pineapple tree and witches tree the birds love the berries I love my Damson tree merry weather ❤️🌳❤️🥰
Very educational. Thank you.
What is the tree type in the video picture?
One of your best videos! Coincidentally, I had purchased an Osmanthus x burkwoodii just the day before watching it. I was so pleased to learn they would grow here in the Pacific Northwest nearly on the water. The one I bought was grown right here in Washington state. Looking forward to the fragrance in the spring.
Hello,do you think a Rowan tree would be suitable for a small garden, thanks
Another wonderfully helpful video.
Fantastic content and a really informative interview – such a nice guy! I learned a lot and will definitely spend some time carefully considering what's right for our garden. Thank you
I like Mountain Ash, Lilac, Bay, Elderberry and Olive trees for small gardens. I love multi stemmed trees for added interest. I have a big bay tree that I pruned heavily at the bottom only and it has revealed beautiful entwinned multi stems – more a tree than a bush now! This was another great episode – thank you!
Great ideas and information. Will try the air pots. Thank you.
Late to this party…. I didn't check all the comments but if its been said I'm happy to repeat it…
The go-to small tree is Stewartia. Lovely foliage and flowers, great fall colors, and interesting bark and habit. !!
This guy needs his own channel🌳🌲🌴
What plants are appropriate for homes with septic tanks?
‘50 plants you can’t kill’ I’m sold.. 😂
Are u in South Africa
Thank you so much for this information. I've got a silver birch tree coming to me to live in our small garden. I'm going to try the Air-pot to keep it contained and shorten it's height. Looking forward to seeing the results now