Ready for a Foliage Friday update? I hope so! Here is your friendly plant post, where I talk about a plant I love and hopefully convince you to either plant it or just be more knowledgeable about it.
Plant: European beech, Fagus sylvatica
Why: I'm still in my tree kick and am going through my 3 inch binder from my undergraduate tree class, page by page. I came across the European beech and remembered how much I pestered my dad to consider planting one in our backyard. And yes, if you're wondering, our backyard is really not that big for this tree, but I just LOVE it. It's the ultimate climbing tree and I always wanted one of those in my backyard as a kid.
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| Can you imagine climbing the branches of this tree? |
Landscape uses: The European beech can be a very large tree in its mature stage, and can be up to 120-140 feet tall! Because of that, it also offers a lot of shade, and you cannot grow much underneath it, there isn't enough sun. This would be a problem when planting in a yard, as the grass underneath can die. But this tree can be used as a lawn tree in a large open space. The beech also tends to have shallow large roots that can poke up through the ground but can be controlled by the method it is grown and planted. Because it can be so large and have such a large span, it is self pruning and the smaller, inside branches fall to the ground as it grows. Less work for you! In fall, it commonly gets a beautiful red color. It's flowers and fruit are generally small.
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| Can grow to be enormous trees! I'd love to read a book under there! |
Other uses: The tar from the beech can be used to help treat bronchitis, and also on the skin for various irritants. There are a lot of theories about how the fruits (a nut) can be used in a variety of ways. I can't keep up!
Fun facts: The bark of this tree is a grey-ish color and is soft. Sometimes it's described as looking like an elephant's leg. I have to agree with that! The European beech comes in a few different popular cultivars, including one with purple leaves, gold leaves, and one that weeps. I'm a big fan of the purple cultivar. :) There are actually a few forests that are primarily beech trees. Note to self... find one and find bliss....
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| Can you kind of see the elephant leg? I do! |
Thanks for tuning in this week! What would you like to learn about next week?
Information and pictures from: http://www.hort.uconn.edu, http://www.botanical.com
1 comment:
I totally see an elephants leg! Also, maybe we could have this at our house??
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