Comments on: Eric’s Pet Plant: Copper Beech ( Fagus sylvatica ‘Atropururea’) http://leslieland.com/2010/07/erics-pet-plant-copper-beech-fagus-sylvatica-atropururea/ in Kitchen and Garden and all around the House Thu, 09 Feb 2012 14:52:42 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 By: Burke Pinnell http://leslieland.com/2010/07/erics-pet-plant-copper-beech-fagus-sylvatica-atropururea/comment-page-1/#comment-4429 Burke Pinnell Sat, 23 Jul 2011 21:57:11 +0000 http://leslieland.com/?p=6985#comment-4429 Eric, Thanks for the feedback on planting the copper beech in the 63 ft courtyard. I will take your advice and try something else. <em>You are more than welcome. Planting the right plant in the right place is the first step to a wonderful landscape. It would have been like having a Great Dane in an efficiency apt. in Soho. You COULD do it,but it’s not fair to the tree/pooch, you or your neighbors.Eric</em> Eric,

Thanks for the feedback on planting the copper beech in the 63 ft courtyard. I will take your advice and try something else.

You are more than welcome. Planting the right plant in the right place is the first step to a wonderful landscape. It would have been like having a Great Dane in an efficiency apt. in Soho. You COULD do it,but it’s not fair to the tree/pooch, you or your neighbors.Eric

]]> By: Burke Pinnell http://leslieland.com/2010/07/erics-pet-plant-copper-beech-fagus-sylvatica-atropururea/comment-page-1/#comment-4375 Burke Pinnell Sun, 29 May 2011 23:26:17 +0000 http://leslieland.com/?p=6985#comment-4375 Would like to transplant a 7 inch dia. copper beech to the center of an arrival courtyard for a new house being built. The courtyard is 63 ft square and will be for vehicular traffic to the garage. The courtyard will not be paved; however will have crushed stone for its surface. How much 'free of traffic' area will this tree need around it? <em>Beech trees have very shallow, wide ranging root systems. The shape of the above ground portion of the tree AS IT NEARS MATURITY will be a spreading rounded oval, with lower branches dipping to the ground, with a spread that is nearly equal to its height, easily reaching the 63 feet you mentioned.. Young trees are more upright, reaching for the sun, less drooping at the tips. The drip line of a tree, especially a beech, does not necessarily describe the outer reach of the root system: they extend WAY beyond the drip line. According to Dr. Kim Coder, the damage done to tree roots from vehicular passage, is severe and debilitating to some species more than others, Beech trees being very susceptible. Also according to Dr. Coder, the first event does 75% of the damage. In other words, it only takes one bozo parking in the wrong spot to damage your Beech tree. So unless you are dead set on planting a Beech, I would look for another species: for purple foliage, smoke tree, purple leaf plum, Crimson King Maple, purple-leafed birch, some of the crabapples or Quercus petraea purpures, a very nice purple-to-red leafed Oak. Any of these would be better than subjecting a Beech to the conditions you describe. If you decide that you must have the Beech: use mulch around the base of the tree, making as large a circle as you can spare from the courtyard, NOT gravel. This will help the root system, providing nutrients, cooling and water modulation, while also announcing to the bozos that the gravel is for driving and parking, the mulch is for staying off of. Plant a small tree so that it will grow into the conditions instead of a large tree which will undergo great shock and suffer the conditions much more badly. Good luck. Eric </em> Would like to transplant a 7 inch dia. copper beech to the center of an arrival courtyard for a new house being built. The courtyard is 63 ft square and will be for vehicular traffic to the garage. The courtyard will not be paved; however will have crushed stone for its surface. How much ‘free of traffic’ area will this tree need around it?

Beech trees have very shallow, wide ranging root systems. The shape of the above ground portion of the tree AS IT NEARS MATURITY will be a spreading rounded oval, with lower branches dipping to the ground, with a spread that is nearly equal to its height, easily reaching the 63 feet you mentioned.. Young trees are more upright, reaching for the sun, less drooping at the tips. The drip line of a tree, especially a beech, does not necessarily describe the outer reach of the root system: they extend WAY beyond the drip line. According to Dr. Kim Coder, the damage done to tree roots from vehicular passage, is severe and debilitating to some species more than others, Beech trees being very susceptible. Also according to Dr. Coder, the first event does 75% of the damage. In other words, it only takes one bozo parking in the wrong spot to damage your Beech tree. So unless you are dead set on planting a Beech, I would look for another species: for purple foliage, smoke tree, purple leaf plum, Crimson King Maple, purple-leafed birch, some of the crabapples or Quercus petraea purpures, a very nice purple-to-red leafed Oak. Any of these would be better than subjecting a Beech to the conditions you describe. If you decide that you must have the Beech: use mulch around the base of the tree, making as large a circle as you can spare from the courtyard, NOT gravel. This will help the root system, providing nutrients, cooling and water modulation, while also announcing to the bozos that the gravel is for driving and parking, the mulch is for staying off of. Plant a small tree so that it will grow into the conditions instead of a large tree which will undergo great shock and suffer the conditions much more badly. Good luck.
Eric

]]> By: Eric Larson http://leslieland.com/2010/07/erics-pet-plant-copper-beech-fagus-sylvatica-atropururea/comment-page-1/#comment-3571 Eric Larson Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:48:28 +0000 http://leslieland.com/?p=6985#comment-3571 Hi Ted, If your Copper Beech isn't too large, it can be moved, but it should be done carefully, and by a professional. My suggestion would be to find another tree that would suit that site better: it would be cheaper to buy a tree and have it planted there. Although the Beech probably will be set back by the move and won't outgrow the limit you set, my inclination is that with the granite and the mounded soil, you might be better off with another species of tree. To really evaluate properly, I would have to at least have a photo to judge from. Good luck! Eric Hi Ted,
If your Copper Beech isn’t too large, it can be moved, but it should be done carefully, and by a professional. My suggestion would be to find another tree that would suit that site better: it would be cheaper to buy a tree and have it planted there. Although the Beech probably will be set back by the move and won’t outgrow the limit you set, my inclination is that with the granite and the mounded soil, you might be better off with another species of tree. To really evaluate properly, I would have to at least have a photo to judge from.
Good luck!
Eric

]]> By: ted tellian http://leslieland.com/2010/07/erics-pet-plant-copper-beech-fagus-sylvatica-atropururea/comment-page-1/#comment-3568 ted tellian Mon, 16 Aug 2010 21:09:07 +0000 http://leslieland.com/?p=6985#comment-3568 I have a copper tree european variety in my backyard, i would like to move it to the front yard and put it in the lawn. Is it a good lawn tree? Mounded? with some granite rocks around it. How big or tall will this tree get, I don't want anything over 20 feet in the front yard. At least in my lifetime. I am 59. thanks for your comment. I have a copper tree european variety in my backyard, i would like to move it to the front yard and put it in the lawn. Is it a good lawn tree? Mounded? with some granite rocks around it. How big or tall will this tree get, I don’t want anything over 20 feet in the front yard. At least in my lifetime. I am 59. thanks for your comment.

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