I don’t know which varieties you have planted exactly, but, assuming they are al of the large/ tall-est growing type….
Motorway planting is almost all done at about 3 per meter squared so they grow really tall quicker.

In your case, unless you wish to go ‘by the book’ and have each specimen grow as per the ideal growing scenario and to its fullest….. I wouldn’t worry too much.

Great to hear stories like this and keep me posted on how you get on.

beir bua
peter

I am very envious sincerely.

to be fair to the site and the proposed layout [?] a couple of pics or a quick video would be great [and I'd love to see them] That aside, Acer glabosum or Tilia cordata ‘greenspire’ does spring to mind for the walkways…. two very different trees but that depends on the style of the site etc…

Re the Arbutus…. think space. Personally all I ever wanted was a +laburnocytissus adamii ended up with a plain old laburnum. You’ll have better luck with the arbutus

keep me posted on this one – great to hear and you should be really very proud.
beir bua
peter

@gina
…a bit of Joan Armatrading…. now theres something I haven’t heard a little of in a while…

… because it’s mighty

you can please all of the people all of the time etc…..

re the cyclops bit
re the coffee book me in for a cuppa so
re the trees… bulaidh bós
re the holes… some species have two in there

*smiles
peter

@bngr
have to agree with you on the cherry blossoms… there used to be onn the top of my road growing up; and outside pretty much every house as well. My reckon it was the housing estate [did they exist then...?]tree of the 1980′s.
So beautiful…. they’d be flowering cherries you and I would remember alright. But would I recommend one to you now…. ?

@hazel
So I was right after all… prefer the Contorta version myself…. one right outside my window… which I may have to move

beir bua
p.

love those kind of stories. Makes doing posts like this all the worthwhile. Thank you so much Re the yew… its a bit of a crataegus [hawthorn] its a hedge and a tree.

In the yew context… the ‘ye olde english gardens’ kept them moreeso as hedges… whilst the later years saw them become more of the latter.

I like to think that the Irish wanted to see what they’d turn out like if we never cut them back at all…

brilliant stuff
peter

@hazel
I just laughed. a lot.
let me know will ye ?
so what tree did you pick

@dawn
yeah found it very hard to find web based information…. a lot of ‘i think’ kinda style-ee and send off for more information – but very little for the facebook generation [...that be you btw ]

beir bua
peter

Its one of those rare ‘perfect’ books that crops up now & then x

see tree #14 sorbus, also known as rowan or mountain ash…. your spot on the money there my fellow tree lover.

brilliant – i feel like sort of a tree dj
peter

with that in mind… i’m surprised the much folklored Crataegus really hasn’t got any votes at all… ?
No idea re the canadian flag… that I can gather it is based on IP address and usually quite a handy tool with regard to international horticultural conversations.
Nice story re the yew. As I said above… I used to get the backs of my legs whipped with willow as a nipper
Would never pick that Arbutus…. climbed one in college once with a few drinks on me…. darned gravity

ah the memories…!!
peter

(Speaking of, how did I get a Canadian flag on my last post when I’m sitting here in west Cavan?? Hmmm…)

My grandmother lies buried under an enormous yew that was twisty-branched and beautiful; it must be centuries old. My mother used to make her Christmas wreaths from it (never got caught by the cemetery folks!) and perhaps that’s how it edged out the lovely willow in my choice.

Plus, doesn’t yew promise a possible cure for cancer? I never kept up with that news, though I first heard it years ago. Of course, willow eases pain, so once again, this one or that one…LOL

Now to hit ‘post’ and see what country I land in this time!

great to see you again
like the yew myself – but the poor fellow doesnt know if its a tree or a hedge….

willow… so romantic. by a lake. lady. darjeeling tea…. etc

willow!!
slán go foill
peter

me too – but – to the best of my knowledge [and I am open to correction] the aesculus [hippocastanaceae] is a genus of about 15 species mainly from South East europe, himalayas, E. Asia and North America and unfortunately [again to the best of my knowledge] not a native of Ireland.

we Irish have to settle for the bruts like the Crataegus and some [rare] beauts like the oaks.

peter
update: yip. I second guessed myself and was right the first time… and theres me just back from The Irish Conker Championships