Pleached trees are becoming increasingly popular in modern and traditional gardens alike. Offering elegant and space-efficient privacy in overlooked gardens they provide formal structure without dominating. They are a favourite of garden designers and we’re pleased to have fresh stock now in.
What is a Pleached Tree?
A traditional and elegant form of horticulture, pleached trees have become increasingly popular in modern garden design. This ancient technique, which involves training trees to grow with a clear stem and a flat, raised canopy, offers a unique blend of practicality and aesthetic appeal.
Privacy and Screening (The Hedge on Stilts)
Traditionally used to create avenue walks and divide space in larger gardens, pleached trees can also provide an instant ‘hedge on stilts’ when planted in a row. Perfect for creating privacy along boundaries in smaller gardens, leaving space for attractive planting underneath.
- Elevated screen; Pleached trees are trained to have a clear, straight trunk with foliage canopy often starting above fence height. This provides effective screening from overlooking windows without the need for tall, solid fences.
- Enhancing your view; Fed up of looking at your neighbours shed or children’s climbing frame? Pleached trees can be used to block unwanted views without taking up space in your garden.
- All-year coverage; Evergreen varieties ensure year-round privacy
Maximise your space
Pleached trees offer the perfect solution where ground space is limited. Because the foliage starts high with clear ground space underneath you can maximise the space you have with underplanting. Some varieties can even be grown in containers and because the canopy is trained into a relatively flat, narrow plane, they take up less space that a large tree or hedge.
Formal Elegance
Pleaching is an ancient horticultural technique that creates a highly structured, formal, and elegant appearance. The clear trunks and raised canopies can help to define boundaries or create “outdoor rooms” bringing an architectural element to your space.
Seasonal interest can be created by choosing trees that have blossom, berries, vibrant Autum colours or rich evergreen leaves
Enhanced Biodiversity
A natural, living screen is more attractive and eco-friendly than hard landscaping. Pleached trees allow light to pass through to the ground beneath and the dense foliage offers shelter and nesting spaces for birds and insects
Varieties in stock now
Photinia x fraseri ‘Red Robin’ 10-12cm
Frame sizes; 1m x 1.2m and 1.2m x 1.8m available.
As an evergreen pleached tree it provides a solid opaque screen even in winter. Red Robins are popular due to their stunning crimson red new leaves that emerge in spring. This colour lasts for several weeks and when you have a solid pane of foliage in a pleached screen, this red growth becomes even more dramatic.
Photonia is also a relatively vigorous grower, meaning it will fill in the pleached frame quickly. It is very tolerant of pruning, which is essential for maintaining the neat, flat shape of a pleached tree. Hard pruning simply encourages more of that attractive red new growth.
Prunus laurocerasus ‘Novita’ (Cherry Laurel) 12-16cm (1.2m x 1.5m)
Also evergreen, the ‘Novita’ provides larger, glossy green leaves giving a lush, luxurious and stately appearance. Fast growing, it fills the framework quickly and provides a reliable privacy screen with virtually no gaps. It’s extremely effective at blocking views from neighbouring windows.
‘Novita’ It is exceptionally hardy and tolerates cold temperatures and strong winds better than many other hedging or pleached choices. It is also very forgiving of heavy pruning.
The post The Secret to Privacy in Overlooked Gardens: Meet the Pleached Tree appeared first on The Big Plant Nursery.
