Middle of the lawn rule for trees?

Frank99

We have a very open front lawn which i would love to make a bit more disguised with a tree in the middle however when i look this up online the message seems to be don't plant a tree in the centre of the lawn.
I feel it will look odd if planted to one side!
Is it okay to plant in the middle, i'm planning to keep it under control with pruning when it gets to the desired size. 

mebu60

Can't think why you wouldn't plant it in the centre. Better there than in a border overhanging someone else's boundary. Offset from the centre would be no good for those of us with OCD tendencies!

I say go for it, dead centre. Get as mature a tree as you can afford. A grass free mulched circular zone around it can look smart too. 

theoretica

It is challenging to have pristine green lawn right up to the the trunk of a tree - you may have bare spots (some trees, including walnut, repress the grass around the trunk) or roots which are on the surface and don't want to be mowed.  But with either a grass free ring around the trunk or a more as-it-comes sort of lawn I think it works well. 

Only challenge is if you like trees and have taken the one centre spot where do you put the next ones?

fatbelly

It's your lawn. Do what you want. I would suggest that you choose a tree of appropriate final size, rather than rely on pruning.

I visit a place with a spectacular magnolia right in the centre of a lawn. The downside is that the grass does not grow well near the trunk. I am trying to get some bulbs going

ArbitraryRandom

Assuming no covenants or bylaws, it depends on how much you care about the opinions of others - you could have a yellow house with neon green door if you wanted to...

The only things I'd want to check is where drainage/water runs (check where the water tap is in the house/street and the drains are probably a direct line from your main waste pipe to road) and that the 'middle' of the lawn is at least 10m away from the house (or check your insurance for the distance you need to declare).

Mine are towards the edges (about 1.5m from the boundary, which should be about half the size of the canopy for the rootstock) as it meant I could have more   

KajiKita

Have a look at the RHS website for small trees for gardens. I have just planted a single stemmed Amalanchier. As for where, I’m going to buck the common view here and say plant it where it will give you the screening effect you want - if that’s dead centre, so be it. If not 🤷‍♀️ just visually anchor it with some shrubs near to it. 

When it comes to planting trees or other woody things, the mycorrhizal fungi you can get in the garden centre in pelleted form added to the roots when planting, make a big difference especially if planting in relatively uncultivated or stale soil. And one full can of water a week to the roots right through its first growing season 😊

KK

twopenny

Sounds lovely!
If you don't want a raggedy lawn under then use block pavers, cobbles, etc in a decorative circle around it. Bulbs will grow theough them if the foliage isnt too dense.

My greatly missed gardening neighbour often said, buy the tree you want and prune to size.

jackieblack

You should check that the roots of whatever tree you choose won’t spread to, and damage, the foundations of the house - roots can extend to double the height of the tree, depending on the species.  You should also check for any pipes/drainage running under the lawn or close by.

GreenBucket24

Frank99 said:

We have a very open front lawn which i would love to make a bit more disguised with a tree in the middle however when i look this up online the message seems to be don't plant a tree in the centre of the lawn.
I feel it will look odd if planted to one side!
Is it okay to plant in the middle, i'm planning to keep it under control with pruning when it gets to the desired size. 

You can create a feature big pot with multi-plants in it if tree is not allowed. Have seen people who don't plant tree in their front lawn, we planted one, and then two neighbours did as well. No problem with us ... here is an example of a feature in our front yard .. a tree is this same area ...


or you can do something like this, this is located in our backyard but can be done in the front too ..