The Eucalyptus family contains several trees with ornamental bark. Most commonly grown in the United Kingdom are Eucalyptus gunnii (cider gum) which has whitish-green bark which peels away to reveal patches of yellow-green bark with pink or orange flushes. Slightly smaller is Eucalyptus pauciflora subsp. niphophila (snow gum) which has whitish-grey bark which peels to reveal yellow, bronze or greenish patches. Both these trees are evergreen.
Another family of evergreen trees with interesting bark is Arbutus (strawberry tree). Best known is Arbutus unedo which reaches 8m and has shredding, red-brown bark. The best bark, however, is found on Arbutus x andrachnoides which reaches a similar height.
Some flowering cherries have ornamental bark - the best being Prunus serrula which has shiny mahogany-red bark that continuously peels away. Some people like to emphasise the shininess of the bark by polishing the tree trunks!
There are a couple of maples with interesting bark as well. Acer griseum (paperbark maple) is good for a small garden as it grows slowly to a height of 10m. It has orange-brown bark which peels revealing light patches. Another maple, Acer grosseri (snakebark maple) has bark striped in black and white.
Finally, there is Stewartia pseudocamellia which bears camellia-like flowers in summer and has peeling, pinky-brown bark. It reaches 20m.
Care should be taken when siting any plant grown for its winter bark to ensure that it can be seen to best effect. Most are best when caught by the light and displayed either against the sky or a background of dark green evergreens.
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6.
Nov 23, 1999 11:35 PM
Carol, You must have access to varieties we don't have over here. Our RHS plantfinder (which is meant to list all the plants available) doesn't include Cornus 'Cardinal' or Salix 'Scarlet Curls' (wh ...
-- posted by JaneHollis
5.
Nov 23, 1999 8:29 AM
Right now the twigs look extremely similar to me, but the tags lead me to believe that one is a somewhat smaller shrub. And when I bought them the leaves were pretty well done - there may be dissimila ...
-- posted by CarolWallace
4.
Nov 22, 1999 1:27 PM
Most of these I know - 'Elegantissima' I grew in my last garden, very pretty leaves, but a little slow-growing. C. sanguinea 'Midwinter Fire' I grow here. The names of the C. sanguinea hybrids are q ...
-- posted by JaneHollis
3.
Nov 22, 1999 8:10 AM
Well, let's see - C. alba gouchaltii, c. sibirica, C. 'Cardinal', 'Midwinter Fire', C. alba 'Elegantissima', C.sanguinea 'Winter Flame' - and a yellow twigged variety whose name escapes me right now. ...
-- posted by CarolWallace
2.
Nov 22, 1999 12:00 AM
I've not done it myself, but apparently some people like to loop a hosepipe round the trunk and wriggle it up and down the bark. I suppose it knocks off all the dirt and dead bark bringing up the new ...
-- posted by JaneHollis
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