Re: Was thin screen now Notofagus
Richard Starkeson wrote:
>
> Michael Barclay wrote:
>
> > I must put in a word here for a favorite group of plants for tall
> > screening, the evergreen southern beeches, Notofagus spp.
>
> Moira, do you know? Having seen some in NZ, some of them are quite ponderous -
> are they all that way? Some seem to be the main forest tree - do they need full
> sun when young? Will they start out in full shade?
Whatever the southern beeches from other areas are like, I don't think
the NZ ones would be any good for a thin screen as all specimens I have
seen have been thick of foliage and distinctly spreading. They would
certainly give you height, reaching at least ten metres(around 35ft) in
gardens, and up to three times as much in the wild. (The Mountain beech
_can_ be smaller, but like the Tasmanian one only has shrub dimensions
at high altitudes.) All however are wide spreading trees and certainly
not sparse of foliage. If one was using a NZ species in a relatively
warm area like California one should note too that they do not like
heat, preferring some shade in warm areas and definitely requiring a
cool root run. N Fusca (red beech) and N menziesii (silver beech) are
actually mountain dwellers and do not do well in lowland situations even
in NZ. N solanderi (Black beech) is more adapted to lowlands and is the
common species in our local bush. However it is almost unknown for our
summer temperatures just here to reach even 30C (85 Farenheit)
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand. (on the "Ring of Fire" in the SW Pacific).
Lat. 41:16S Long. 174:58E. Climate: Mediterranean/Temperate
