In times past, when you wanted trees on your property, you planted them as saplings. Then you sat back and waited about half a century, hoping that gales, drought or disease would not claim them. Your grandchildren would thank you for your generous foresight.
Things are a little different nowadays. If you don't like the view of a neighbouring property, you can plant a stately line of 10-metre-high Lombardy poplars to discreetly shield it. Or if you fancy turning pasture into parkland, how about a few shapely beech trees for an immediate Capability Brown landscape?
If you are so minded, you can plant anything from a semi-mature, five-metre-tall lime (which may cost £150) to a 90-year-old oak, 17 metres high and packed with character. This latter piece of instant antiquity will set you back £8,000 to £10,000 for the tree alone. Bringing it over from the continent, where the largest trees are grown for sale, could be another £3,000. The business of planting it will also put a considerable dent in your purse.
At Nangle and Niesen's 80-acre nursery in Co Cork, about 150 varieties of tree are grown. The 30-year-old business is the longest-running tree nursery in Ireland, according to Matthew Niesen. The largest specimens here have a girth of 40 to 50 centimetres, and could be seven metres tall. And by collaborating with a Belgian nursery, "we'll get any size that you can legally transport on European roads," says Mr Niesen.
"That's up to 17 metres, or 51 feet tall." But trees, like much of nature, have no respect for money. Just because you can buy magnificently large trees, it doesn't mean they're going to grow. They have to be skilfully planted, and cared for afterwards - intensively, for at least two years. Mr Niesen, therefore, urges householders who are considering putting in large trees to employ a professional to examine the site and soil before embarking on any planting exercise. "When I part with them," he says of his nursery stock, "I like to see them get on well." On important jobs, he sends his son, also named Matthew, to supervise the trees being lowered into their planting holes.
Nangle and Niesen have supplied the trees for the landscaping around the golf courses at the K Club: 285 trees in the past year. "There are some very big ones, including beech, oak, and some very big elm trees. We've also supplied exotic specimens such as liriodendron, liquidambar, robinia and gleditsia, but most were native species." At the K Club, says Mr Niesen, there is a good in-house landscaping service.
Sap Nurseries in Co Tipperary, Ireland's largest tree nursery, has 220 acres under production. Sales and marketing manager John Murphy reports that in the past five years their sales of semi-mature and mature trees have gone from "a couple of hundred to thousands per year. Whereas people were buying in ones and twos previously, they're now buying in thirties, fifties and hundreds." The biggest trees grown at Sap are 60 centimetres in girth and over seven metres high. Larger trees - up to 140 centimetres in girth and 22 metres tall - are imported from Northern Germany.
Some of the city corporations are using semi-mature trees (with a girth of between 20 and 45 centimetres), for their street trees, says Mr Murphy. "They are far less likely to be vandalised." Sap Gardens, a subsidiary of Sap Nurseries, operates a supply-and-plant service for the general public. Planting a semi-mature specimen, with a girth of 20 to 25 centimetres and a height of 4 to 5 metres, costs around £250 (plus VAT at 12.5 per cent). Trees are delivered on a truck with a crane, and are accompanied by a planting crew. "Obviously, it's more economical for the customer if we deliver 10, rather than just one."
Among the heftier trees, with a girth of 60 or 70 centimetres, the most popular are oak, beech, lime and the more upright sycamores, says Mr Murphy. "You'd be up in the region of £2,500 each for these, and that's for supply, not planting."
At Ryan's Nurseries in Cashel, Co Tipperary, Con Ryan sells only his own home-grown trees; he does not import from abroad. "Ordinary green beech is our best-seller. It holds it leaves into winter and has a lovely golden colour in autumn." His finest specimens are about six metres tall and have a girth of 35 centimetres. These cost around £400 or £500, before VAT. "We encourage people to come down and choose their own trees. The best time is August or September, while the leaves are still there." During winter, when the trees are dormant, they are lifted, tied up properly and lowered onto a truck - preferably supplied by the buyer.
The root-balls are enclosed in a wire cage. Don't be tempted to remove the cage when planting, cautions Mr Ryan: it will rot away naturally in a year or two. Lime trees (of which he has seven or eight varieties) are also popular, especially for avenues, and cost approximately £150 (plus VAT) each.
Evert Verveen of Trees in Transit, Glenealy, Co Wicklow, says the "sky is the limit" for prices for mature trees. These he ships in from nurseries in Italy, Holland, Germany or Belgium. His own trees have a girth of about 20 centimetres and are around five metres tall. Prices range from £60 for a Lombardy poplar to £72 for a broad-leaved lime. Doubling the price will cover carriage and planting costs.
William Blackley of Derrylea Trees in Co Kildare specialises in mature beech hedging. His plants, which are over two metres tall, come root-balled and are branched all the way down to the bottom of the stem. Each plant costs £13.50, and he recommends planting two per metre. "It's a cheaper option than building a wall," he points out. Delivery charges depend on the distance and quantity, but as a guideline, he quotes the price for a load to Dublin as £120. Next year he will have mature hornbeam hedging also.
Bamboos are an increasingly popular way to provide height in a garden. Peter Stam, of Stam's Bamboo Nursery, says that in small back gardens, or in other situations where space is at a premium, certain mature bamboos make excellent vertical plants with no overhanging branches. "They can be used where it is not possible to use a semi-mature tree."
That common problem in high-density housing where the neighbour's bathroom or landing window overlooks your space can be solved by planting a long and lean bamboo. Both the golden bamboo (Phyllostachys aurea) and the black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra) are available in seven-metre heights, and cost around £500 plus VAT. Smaller specimens, 3.5 metres tall, cost £120 plus VAT.
