Tree Planting Service in Crowborough

Height is the first thing we think about when planting in Crowborough. The town rises to 242 metres at its highest point, which puts gardens up here into a colder, windier and later season than the ones down near the coast. Buds break later in spring, the first frosts come sooner, and a young tree has a great deal more wind to stand up to.

What 242 Metres Does to a Young Tree

A tree that has just gone in has no anchorage worth the name. Every time the wind moves the stem, the root plate shifts in the hole and the fine roots that were starting to take hold get torn. The tree is then stuck repairing itself instead of growing, and a season later you have something that has barely moved.

We deal with that at planting rather than afterwards. Stakes go in at an angle against the prevailing wind and low on the stem, so the roots are held still while the top is left free to flex, which is what thickens the trunk. Where the position is badly exposed we would sooner plant a smaller tree that establishes quickly than a tall one that spends three years fighting.

Sandy, Acid and Hungry Ground

The bedrock under the town is the Ashdown Formation, mapped by the British Geological Survey as interbedded sandstone and siltstone. It is the same rock that gives the neighbouring Ashdown Forest its character, where the soils that have formed over it are sandy, strongly acidic and low in nutrients.

Ground like that drains fast, which is useful in a wet winter and a problem in a dry June. It also means a tree that wants a sweet, fertile loam will yellow up and stall however much you feed it. Picking species that are at home on acid sand is far more effective than trying to argue with the soil.

Whips, Standards and Specimens

Size at planting is the decision that drives everything else in tree and hedge planting. Whips are young bare-root trees. They cost little, go in fast, and they are the reason a long hedge or a block of woodland planting is affordable at all. They also establish quicker than anything bigger, which counts for a great deal on exposed ground.

Standards are older, taller and carry a clear stem, so you get a recognisable tree from day one. Semi-mature specimens arrive root-balled, carrying a heavy ball of soil, and generally want a machine to lift them into position. They fill a gap in one season instead of fifteen years, and on a high, windy plot they need more support than anything else we put in. We talk all three through on the visit rather than selling you the biggest thing in the catalogue.

Deer, Rabbits and Everything Else That Eats Trees

Browsing is a real and constant problem on this side of the county. Roe and fallow deer are widespread through the Weald, and rabbits will ring-bark a young whip at ground level over one winter. Losing a tree to browsing in year two is both more likely and more annoying than losing one to the weather.

On rural plots and paddock boundaries, spirals, tubes or stock fencing are usually the answer, and fitting them is part of the job, not something you arrange separately. Inside an enclosed garden you can often manage without, and we will tell you so without adding cost you do not need.

On a larger scheme we plan a return visit the following season to put right whatever has not taken, because on any planting of size some losses are normal.