Using Tree Bark in Backyard Design

By Marilyn Homewood, Grasp Gardener

We are actually on the uphill climb in direction of rising daylength. Nonetheless, the bleakness of the season will probably be with us for a while but. Growing winter curiosity by incorporating bushes and shrubs with distinctive bark is a technique of coping with the view. There are some hanging choices accessible to us on this space.

Paperbark Maple (Acer griseum)

This can be a small tree that when wouldn’t have wintered nicely right here. With the altering local weather, it might now be grown in our space however I ought to warning that it nonetheless prefers a sheltered space and won’t tolerate robust wind. It has a mature peak is about 25 toes with a diffusion of 15 -25 toes. It’s trunk and limbs remind one among cinnamon sticks and the peeling bark is much like that of a birch tree. As a maple, it additionally has a powerful fall present when leaves flip shades of yellow, pink and orange. As for placement, it should develop in full solar to partial shade in well-drained soil.

Striped Maple (Acer pensylvanicum)

This can be a native, understory tree in southern Ontario topping out at 30 toes. It prefers a fan of full shade in cool, moist, barely acidic soil. The bark is distinct with inexperienced and white stripes. One warning nevertheless, the tree is also referred to as “moosewood” because the deer and moose like to browse on the twigs. Younger bushes ought to be netted to stop injury from these critters.

Shagbark Hickory (Carya ovata)

This can be a giant tree rising 60-80 toes in peak with a trunk diameter that may attain 1 -2.5 toes. The bark separates into lengthy plates because the tree ages which loosen from the trunk giving the tree a shaggy look. This tree additionally produces candy tasting nuts making the tree in style with squirrels and birds. Hickory is finest grown in moist soil and full solar however can tolerate some shade. It prefers wealthy soil and is commonly discovered on hillside and in valleys the place there may be extra moisture. These are lengthy lived bushes (200 years).

River Birch (Betula nigra)

With a sleek kind and enticing bark, river birch is a deciduous tree steadily utilized in decorative plantings. It’s a fast-growing shade bushes, valued for the colourful exfoliatingbark. River birch is without doubt one of the most culturally adaptable and warmth tolerant of the birches and substitute for white birches. It is usually reputed to be extra immune to the birch borer that plagues the white birch. One other interesting characteristic is the shimmering distinction when theleaves flutter within the wind, with decrease leaf surfaces a unique coloration than the higher floor. A medium to tall tree, rising 60-80 toes at maturity and about 40 broad. Bushes sometimes stay 50 -75 years. Though it naturally kinds only a single trunk, it’s steadily bought in multiple-trunked kind with two to 5 trunks per tree.

As a result of it’s a giant tree, river birch makes a fantastic specimen planting for largerproperties. The cover casts gentle dappled shade when younger however offers medium shade when older. This species is a good selection for low spots and moist soils and ought to be planted in full solar. It does nicely on clay as that kind of soil retains moisture nicely. It will probably tolerate dry summers as soon as established.

“Heritage” is a well-liked, vigorous cultivar usually used as options to white barked birches in landscapes because of its lighter bark coloration. It has closely exfoliating bark, with layers of cinnamon, salmon and brown bark peeling again in large sheets to disclose creamy white interior bark. It seems finest planted in multi-stemmed clumps.

That is only a smattering of what’s accessible. Why not spend a chilly day looking out the web bushes with attention-grabbing bark and see what pops up.