If you owned some land, what trees would you plant?

[demographic]

A rather hypothetical question really as I don't have a pot to P*** in let alone a window to chuck it out of but I think it's worth asking anyway.

I have a mate who's parents planted about 7000 trees on their land, they planted stuff that was native to the British isles (there was a grant avaliable for this at the time so they got half of it paid for) but even though their place is a good habitat for the local deer, badger and red squirrel I think I would have gone for more trees that produce edible fruits/nuts.
That would include...

Ash (I like the wood).

Cherry (the fruits nice and the woods OK I suppose, also)

Crab Apple tree ( crab apple jelly is good and they produce a lot of pectin for jam and so on).

Damson trees (again they grew on our land when I was a nipper but we used to pick em and make damson gin, damson wine and I might be wrong as ait was a long time ago but I think even damson jam)

Hazel (the woods very flexible and hazelnuts make god eating)

Mountain ash (Rowenberry jelly and rowenbery wine reminds me of my childhood as my mother used to make it).

Wallnut (hey the woods really nice to work with and I like wallnuts).
There are a lot of others so post em up.

What would you plant?

 

[sxmolloy]

Sweet Chestnut for a little Autumn roasting of the nuts and Birch (the ones with the paper like bark) for getting the fire going that I would roast the Sweet Chestnuts on.

I think you covered the rest in the above post....ATB....Stu

 

[Bisamratte]

Oak - for my great great grand kids to play in and use

 

[JonnyP]

Mixed native woodland for me, smaller species round the perimmeter, to provide fruit and nuts, going to big oaks and ash etc in the middle.
Non of it would be planted in lines (hate that).
Also, I would have to have at least 1000 acres, we are talking hypotheticaly here.
Thing is though, I can't wait for it to grow up, so I will just have to go and buy a wood and make do.........

 

[Toddy]

Trees that would coppice well, too. Oak, willow, hazel, and the like. Holly just 'cos it belongs elm because we miss them. Hornbeam, hawthorn, elder, honeysuckle and briar rose. Wych elm, sycamore and rowan. Beech and birch though I'm told that beech is now considered to shading of other trees, I've got a beech hedge and it seems happy enough so it could be kept from becoming massive.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[demographic]

Theres already a load of trees I realise I forgot about

 

[Snufkin]

I'd add yew to the list and also some domestic apple varieties and some pears.

 

[dtalbot]

Pretty much all of the above plus some blackthorn to keep me in sloe gin/vodka

 

[British Red]

Was just going to go for blackthorn

Okay

Spindle (beautiful flowers and seed pods)
Wayfaring (amazing fruit)
Mulberry....cos we can go round it and the fruit is awesome!

Red

 

[Toddy]

I've never seen those three Red, and would never have thought of them though they sound excellent.

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[dommyracer]

Have to be some elm in there.

 

[led]

Amongst some great suggestions above, I'd look at a small coppice of small leafed lime (for excellent carving wood and bark).

 

[rich59]

Pine for the resin, the tea, the fast growth, the commercial bit and the evergreen appearance in winter.



But, is there any tree you would leave out?

 

[Draven]

hmmmmmmm...
I'd want a bit of pine, oak, willow, birch, cherry, chestnut, probably a couple more I'm not thinking of...
The pine would be a "disposable" tree for me though, I'd probably use it mostly for firewood. I LOVE the smell of burning pine!

 

[Toddy]

Pine for the resin, the tea, the fast growth, the commercial bit and the evergreen appearance in winter.



But, is there any tree you would leave out?

Good point
Leylandii, maybe?

Cheers,
Toddy

 

[Snufkin]

I'll second leylandii, evil stuff.
Also add elder and alder to the good tree list.

 

[British Red]

I've never seen those three Red, and would never have thought of them though they sound excellent.

Cheers,
Toddy

Here's a spindle tree Toddy...hope you agree its a lovely look when its in flower and seed...I love them as they were one of the first trees that had me rushing to buy a tree book

Red

 

[JonnyP]

I found one of those spindles last winter and got it identified by the good folk on here and some info on it too........
http://www.bushcraftuk.com/community/showthread.php?t=9413

 

[Toddy]

I see what you mean BR, that is lovely. Are the fruits edible?
And *spindle*, is that what the tree was best used for? I use a drop spindle all the time.
cheers,
Toddy

 

[Tony]

Cor, I read the first post on here and thought 'Ahh, I’ve got a few' then I read down and you lot have got well stuck in! There's trees for food, bark, sap, looks, fires, fast growing, slow growing, construction, tools....all sorts. I think it would be the perfect forest!

Oh, and I'd leave out Sycamore, it will find it's own way there anyway