Hi there I am looking to plant a small group of trees as part of landscaling our new house. It is situated 7o metres back from the north coast of scotland about 20 metres above sea level. Just about to start looking but I suspect that recommendations will give more comfort than advertised claims. my concerns should be obvious but: sea/ salt spray, wind and relative cold weather. anyone had success?
Alan
I know this is kinda late but I also live on the North Coast of Scotland (Lybster, Caithness) and am very close to the sea and am very exposed so I know what kind of trees/plants have managed to survive here.
Willow is fantastic and it is soooooo easy to propagate. I literally pull off teeny branches in winter when they're bare (with a heel if poss but not totally necessary), shove em in a jar of water over winter and when spring comes they'll root and ready to pot on. Plus they grow very quickly.
They will always be my first choice and I even have a weeping willow growing - albeit a baby.
Acers have done well here, Beech does well too, obviously most of the Firs do extremely well. Then there's Ash (have loads of that), Birch, Alder and we even have 3 Oak trees growing well and are about 20ft high.
The most important thing is the staking. We get severe winds here and if you don't stake properly the trees will show it as they'll be bent right over.
Good Luck
p.s Get in touch with your local Forestry commission as they often know of someone who sells these trees at very low prices. There's a guy at Dornoch way who sells saplings at least a couple of foot high for £1 a go. I'm not sure of his name though but it can be found through the Dornoch Forestry Commission if it's of any use to you.