Year 3 Plants blog: Sorbus aria; 'Whitebeam'

A deciduous medium sized tree often with the appearance of a shrub with a spreading and sometimes domed crown. The leaves have a green topside but on the underside the leaves are covered in tiny white hairs. The leaves are oval shaped about 12cm long with toothed margins. With an unusual grey coloured bark which is fairly smooth to the touch.

White flowers grow in clusters opening in May and red berries are bright red around September. The berries are enjoyed by a number of birds, squirrels and hedgehogs so this is an important tree as it is used by a number of species of animals.

Only occurs natively to the south of Brittan and found in hedgerows and woodland edges. The plant is also often planted in cities, towns and parks as it has a moderate tolerance to pollution. This makes the Whitebeam good in areas such as urban parks or street trees.

This Whitebeam was found behind Owens Park student accommodation, growing behind a wall in a dense area of planting with holly, ivy and hazel prominent. It worked well as a screen I think it was intended to be used as a barrier around a small university building. Whitebeam is an attractive tree with its white leaves and silvery bark and I would like to see more regularly.  

Malus domestica; 'Apple'

There are around 25 species of Malus in the northern temperate region, and are generally planted for the fruit which these trees yield, grown in fields known as orchards.

The branches become tangled unless pruned, leaves can grow up to 13cm long, they are rounded near the stem and curve towards a slight point at the tip. Another thing apples are famous for is there white and pink blossom which is very attractive when travelling past an orchard with trees full of fresh blossom.

These trees are often plagued by Mistletoe, with many trees whole canopies covered. This doesn’t seem to bother the trees as they still happily produce trees full of apples every year.

As I was in Normandy, there was an abundance of Orchards as Normandy is famous for its cider and calvados. The orchards which I generally found were small plots of land with from 10-20 trees spaced evenly apart in a mown field.  When the apples are ripe there is a huge rush to pick and stop the animals eating the produce. When I was much younger there used to be a mobile distillery which came to help the local farmers create calvados, I haven’t seen this machine for years as I suppose that is incredibly illegal now.

Calluna vulgaris; 'Heather'

Heather can dominate large areas of heath, moor and bog, it likes poor acidic, sandy or peaty soils.It’s a low growing bushing evergreen with small leaves which are packed tightly along the stems. The purplish flowers appear in late summer.

The height of Calluna vulgaris is around 60cm to but can reach up to 150cm.The leaves are small 1-2cm long and hairy and grow in opposite pairs, each pair 90 degrees to the previous pair.

This heather was found in Platfields park, it have been used are an area of ornamental planting, in a very traditional style. White and purple heather has been planted in a circular pattern and in the centre is a mature Silver Birch. The only problem with this planting scheme was that areas of the heather had died out and bare earth was visible. As is was a formal planting bed the soil seemed of good quality and being fairly dry compared to the other areas which we have seen in Platfields.

In heathers native area such as moorland, it’s used as a source of food by a number of animals. Sheep and deer graze on the tips, grouse feed on the young shoots and seeds of the plant. Because of heathers denseness its often houses a number of animals for shelter, as there is often little shelter on the remote areas heather can grow.

Urtica dioica; 'stinging nettle'

A very common plant in a wide range of habitats, sunny and shaded and preferably rich in nutrients, especially phosphates and prefers damp soils. Found in gardens, waste ground to fens and riverbanks.

Urtica dioica have many tiny white flowers which are grouped into drooping string like clusters. The stems are purplish and grow from a creeping rootstock,. The stems and leaves are covered in long stinging short hairs and also shorted non stinging hairs. The leaves grow in opposite pairs with coarsely toothed edges.

This nettle was found on the edge of a path, this route is often used by dog walkers. I suspect the nettles grew here due to dogs regularly urinating and creating a nitrogen rich soil which Nettles love.

Nettles are important to many Insect species as they aren't often eaten by grazing species due to the stinging nettles. Nettles support over 40 types of insects and numerous butterflies. So adding nettles in a design gives areas were insects can bloom which would lead to the increase of larger animals into sites.

Larix decidua; 'Larch'

The bark becomes increasingly fissured with age, with the bark thickening over time also. The branches grow horizontally from the trunk, the needles growth in clumps on the branches of around 40 in a bunch, with the needles being around 3cm in length. 

A deciduous conifer which forms a tall straight looking tree and often seen growing together in plantations used for timber.  During the winter in these Common Larch plantations they are light and airy, so during spring woodland flowers are generally found.

Larches are a native species of mainland Europe but has become established in England as a timber species as these trunks grown straight perfect for logs.

This Larch was found in Platfields Park it was growing in between a Scott Pines and growing under a Holly bush. These plants often grown together, as the larch and Scott pine growth tall and don’t out compete each other and holly is tolerant of low light conditions which mature larch creates.

As Larch is very fast growing with a high resin content it’s a great trees to use as timber, an increase of sustainable Larch woodlands is a great idea. 

Galanthus nivalis; 'snowdrop'

Commonly found in damp woodlands and other shady places, a very noticeable species which flowers January to march.

 Snowdrops are a perennial and grow from a bulb, the leaves flat strap-shaped with being 5-15cm long and 0.5-1cm in width. The flower droops and hang face down this is to protect from frost and this perennial flowers so early.

These snowdrops were found in Platfields Park underneath a large Portuguese Laurel, which casted large amounts of shadow. This is common as snowdrops prefer this and often grows under trees as the soil is often dryer as the larger tree sucks up most of the moister.

As Snowdrops often bloom before many plants, it’s a good bulb to plant to help give designs interest in times of the year wear there wouldn’t be much in bloom, and because of this Snowdrops are used extensively in parks and gardens. They look very attractive and often in Leeds I make an effort to go an specific woodland which is covered in Snowdrops and it’s quite breath-taking, which is actually named bluebell woods in my house as its impressive displays of bluebells also.

Metasequioa glyptostroboides; 'Dawn Redwood'

Originally from south west china but now has become a popular garden and city plant often found in commercial areas as a form of decoration.

Often known as Dawn Redwood this tree is a conical deciduous conifer with the leaves forming opposite pairs on the shoots.  The leaves are 2.5cm long and needle like, pale green at first and darkening in maturity. Its distinctive bark is the real standout feature being dark reddish brown, peeling in vertical strips. Creating a visually attractive tree which gives this plant a specific look and character.

This dawn redwood was found on oxford road in Manchester. This being a very busy area of traffic and pedestrians these row of Dawn Redwoods have done very well living here. The tree pits are very compact, some of the tree protective gates are way too small and chocking the tree and some don’t have any at all increasing soil compaction. These tree are placed to create a visual barrier from the car park to the road, the only problem is that these trees are deciduous so the coverage is only during the summer.

Dawn Redwood has been noted on its tolerance to pollution, this could be the reason by they are doing so well on oxford road, one of the busiest bus routes in Europe. So this tree was picked well as many trees couldn’t live in this very harsh environment. 

Cotoneaster horizontalis; 'Cotoneaster'

 This plant has been widely naturalised often in rocky places, and often found on waste ground, verges, banks, walls it prefers chalky soils. The soil of this specimen was full of building material and looking rather compact, but this Cotoneaster was blooming and didn’t seem to be effected.

Contoneaster horizontalis is a deciduous shrub, arching to prostrate, but often supported against a wall. The twigs resemble a fish bone pattern. The flowers are small in size and pink-white in colour in cluster of 2-3 and the berries are an orange- red colour. Leaves are 6-12mm long with a glossy green top and a paler hairless bottom.

The fruits of this plant are poisonous for humans but a large source of food for animal’s particularly birds, when flowering it also attracts a large number of bees to the area, so benefitting local ecosystems if planted with the right plants.

This Cotoneaster was planted at the base of a wall which was growing upwards. Due to the way it grows it can cover large areas of land, this could be used as a way of covering areas and reduce problems such as urban heat islands. 

Salix fragilis; 'Crack willow'

Salix fragilis is a common native species and prefers damp soils and because of this they are often found lowland woodlands, by the edges of water such as canals and long river banks.Is a shrubby plant with a domed crown, the branches are dense and matted coming from very near the base of the trunk.  The leaves are long, thin and glossy with toothed edges.

An interesting fact about Crack-willow is that if its brittle twigs break of and lodge itself in soil it can grow into a new plant. Willow whips have started to be used to create living structures, used as securing soils and supporting river beds.

Crack willow has been used and found beneficial in the use of Phytoremediation, this means that planting of this plant in polluted wetland areas could be a cheaper and more naturalistic way of cleaning polluted river banks or wet areas.

This crack willow was found in the Umist Campus near Piccadilly station. These trees are looking in great condition, tall and strong. This could be due to the good tree bed they were growing in, it looked very larger for the crack willow. With small low lying grasses shrubs and ivy which isn’t constricting growth.

Ligustrum ovalifolium; 'Privet'

Privet is a fast growing semi-evergreen spreading shrub, the way it grows in a dense leafy bush which is perfect for screening is often used as hedging for garden boundaries. With a maximum size of around 4 meters tall. It has glossy green leaves, dull white flowers with an unpleasant smell with black fruits which birds love.

Semi evergreen meaning that extreme conditions Garden Privet may loose its leaves, for example in the depths of winter or in poor soil. 

The Privet in my garden is often shelter for numerous birds, generally thrushes with a few nests every year. As it creates great shelter and a source of food from the berries but also number insects such as spiders which make webs in the privet.

This plant could be used in a more imaginative way than hedging as it’s such a good habitat for birds. It has also been noted on its tolerance to pollution, this potentially why it’s used so often in cities for its hardiness.