Best tree for sloped front lawn?

Frank99

Our front garden, lawn is very open and my other half wants some kind of tree to break up the openness without making it private enough for sinister people to mess with our windows. Some people by us have those ball shaped small topiary type trees which you can shape but i don't know what they are called.

I was thinking of a weeping cherry blossom tree without the cherries obviously with this being a front garden.

Any ideas?

twopenny

Lots of lovely cherry blossom trees are available. The best time is now to visit your garden centre and ask what they have in stock.

Then go home and look up what colour the leaves go and the blooms.

I too have a sloping lawn but nearby electric cable and wanted a tree to block my bedroom window.

I chose Prunus Nigra on a dwarfing root stock. It grows up columnish shape as do the roots, with dark red leaves and stems. The leaves are only vacant for a couple of months and it is the first to bloom in spring.

https://www.ashridgetrees.co.uk/prunus-cerasifera-nigra-for-sale

https://www.papervaletrees.com/prunus-cerasifera-nigra.html

I'm surprised at the prices online, mine was around £40 but I knew it was what I wanted. Seeing it for real you can pick the best shape.

Other types have more flamboyant flowers which are gorgeous but the leaves not so much. Though there is a small one behind my garden that has long leaves that turn bright red and orange in autumn.

Boat_to_Bolivia

I'd have a Japanese Maple (just because I love them) but I don't imagine a more mature one comes cheap!

https://www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/japanese-maple-trees-c77

J63320

I wouldn’t choose a cherry, because they are shallow-rooted, and you could find that the roots are too near the surface where the ground slopes away. I used to live on a slope and had a cherry tree near the boundary. Its roots damaged the concrete driveway of my neighbour down the slope. I didn’t learn (!) and at my next house I planted a cherry near the patio; its roots pushed up some of flags.

theoretica

The teeny topiary might be box, or box leaved honeysuckle. 

[Deleted User]

Deciduous or evergreen ?
Slim or bushy ?
Low height or mid ?
With flowers, berries, fruit ?
Aspect and orientation ?
There are lots of lovely suggestions for you to choose from but without more guidance it's too vague.

Woolsery

J63320 said:

I wouldn’t choose a cherry, because they are shallow-rooted, and you could find that the roots are too near the surface where the ground slopes away. I used to live on a slope and had a cherry tree near the boundary. Its roots damaged the concrete driveway of my neighbour down the slope. I didn’t learn (!) and at my next house I planted a cherry near the patio; its roots pushed up some of flags.

They might throw up suckers too. Mine certainly do, but they're the wild kind I buy bare rooted for a couple of quid, not fancy, grafted ones. Maybe someone with long term experience will comment about that.

Boat_to_Bolivia said:

I'd have a Japanese Maple (just because I love them) but I don't imagine a more mature one comes cheap!

https://www.ornamental-trees.co.uk/japanese-maple-trees-c77

The exact variety and exposure to wind and sun would ultimately determine how expensive a Japanese Maple might be. Something that dies is always costly!

We have an 8' around, ball-shaped evergreen in our front garden. It didn't cost a lot because we inherited it, but it was just a wild thing originally. It's a bay tree. They take any amount of shaping or hacking-about, but now it just has a trim once a year + when I make spaghetti Bolognaise!

Woolsery

theoretica said:

The teeny topiary might be box, or box leaved honeysuckle. 

Or even box-leaved holly, which is less prone to blight etc than box:

https://www.crocus.co.uk/plants/_/ilex-crenata-dark-green-icoprins11-pbr/classid.2000020898/

[Deleted User]

@Frank99 what are your thoughts please ?

J63320

Woolsery said:

J63320 said:

I wouldn’t choose a cherry, because they are shallow-rooted, and you could find that the roots are too near the surface where the ground slopes away. I used to live on a slope and had a cherry tree near the boundary. Its roots damaged the concrete driveway of my neighbour down the slope. I didn’t learn (!) and at my next house I planted a cherry near the patio; its roots pushed up some of flags.

They might throw up suckers too. Mine certainly do, but they're the wild kind I buy bare rooted for a couple of quid, not fancy, grafted ones. Maybe someone with long term experience will comment about that.

Good point about suckers - especially relevant if the OP is planning to plant a tree in a lawn. Even if a tree is grafted it can put up suckers from the wild rootstock. The one I planted near my patio did. What’s this weed growing in the flowerbed, I wondered, and tried to pull it up - no chance! I had to dig down and pull it off the root. 

In my new garden (moved in last year) I have a cherry with three trunks. One has red leaves and I assume this is what the previous owners planted. The other two have green leaves and are suckers from the rootstock, which should have been removed, but have been allowed to grow and are now the same size as the original.

AlanMC_2

The most attractive tree in our garden is a Laburnum, which has bright yellow flowers. They are poisonous, though, so you might want to bear that in mind if there are kids using the garden.