A narrow growing, columnar purple leafed beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Red Obelisk’) will help to fill the space vacated by the removal of a redbud that leaned far over this area of the garden. The leaning redbud was tolerated for too long, threatening to topple onto the greenhouse, so the further tilt following the early January wet snowfall was a fortunate push to finally get this done.

This space, like most in this thirty-three year old garden, demands a tree of substantial size. Of course, I’m regarded by acquaintances as one of the least patient residents of this planet, so I was thrilled to find a densely branched tree that will make a bit of a show from the start. If a tree looks good without leaves it will improve threefold with leaves, so it’s likely I’ll be doubly satisfied in another month or two.

Beech are quite slow to get started after planting, as I’ve seen with the now huge purple leafed European beech (Fagus sylvatica ‘Atropurpurea’, above) in the front garden, and with the pendulous branched, green leafed beech (F. sylvatica ‘Pendula’) along the rear, northern property line. The beech in the front barely grew an inch for several years when I was most anxious to get the garden going after we moved into this newly constructed home, but then it took off and look at it now. I expect the same growth from the new, columnar beech, but it is not in a prominent spot, and the small purple leafed tree will look just right. With its narrow form, it is not likely to overgrow the spot for many years.

While planting space is limited, a few more trees will be planted along with the beech. One small growing Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Mikawa yatsubusa’) will take little space, and a larger growing maple with deeply divided leaves (A. palmatum ‘Scolopendrifolium’) will be planted at the edge of a newly created planting area in the lower, rear garden. A slow growing, somewhat dwarf ginkgo (Ginkgo biloba ‘Chi-Chi’) will be planted nearby, and yes this one is a bit of a stretch with its eventual growth, but for another decade or two this will work out.