"SHOW me some good bark," she said as we walked through the garden. "I am looking for trees with good bark to plant in my garden - and nothing boring, I want spectacular."
That was part of a conversation I had last week with an interested gardener from Seattle who was visiting the UBC Botanical Garden.
She was visiting friends in Vancouver and stopped by the garden to look at the extensive plant collections in search of one thing: good bark.
Winter is definitely a good time to look at tree bark because few people think about bark when trees are in full leaf during summer. I don't recommend choosing a tree solely based on its bark.
There's far more to consider when choosing a tree for the garden, such as mature height, spread and preferred conditions to name a few. But good bark does catch the eye during our dull gray winters.
Ultimately, choosing trees comes down to commercial availability. If you can't find it at the garden centre, you can't buy it - at least not easily.
There are plant sales held at local Vancouver botanical gardens, but tree bark is rarely the focus of these sales.
There are also plant collectors who specialize in interesting trees and if you can find them, you can buy some spindly little whip of a tree and wait 10 years to enjoy the bark. Thanks, but I am getting older and I may be too blind to see that pretty bark before too long, so I need a sizable tree now. With all of that in mind, here are some trees with good bark that should be available at your local garden centre.
The birches (Betula species) are widely known to have white to pale brown bark that flakes and exfoliates in pieces and strips, quite lovely. There is, however, one problem with almost all birches, the bronze birch borer which is a vigorous bark beetle that loves to eat birch trees. The Himalayan birch (Betula utilis jacquemontii), white birch (Betula papyrifera) and the European birch or silver birch (Betula pendula), are all susceptible to the bronze birch borer. The river birch (Betula nigra) has moderate to good resistance to bronze birch borer depending on where it is planted and how it is pruned. Its bark is pale white with cream and orangey-pink highlights that exfoliates in strips and pieces. This tree is a bit large for most yards growing 20 metres at maturity, but lovely nonetheless.
The maples (Acer species) are known to produce some good barkers within their ranks. The Manitoba maple (Acer negundo) has attractive whitish streaked bark when young but it's a big grower, too big for most yards but it can be continually pruned every other year to keep it small which also produces the most colourful young stems and bark. The coral
bark Japanese maple (Acer palmatum "Sangu Kaku") is a great small garden tree that has awesome coral-red bark. This little beauty is wonderful in any garden and it also has great fall colour. Arguably the best barked tree of all the maples is the paperbark maple (Acer griseum). Ideal for small or big gardens this lovely charmer is adorned with coppery-orange-red bark that flakes off in pieces and strips. Growing about five metres in 10 years this tree's virtue is not only its bark but its flame red fall colour.
There is one other maple that has stunning white and green striations in its bark called the snakebark maple (Acer davidii and Acer pennsylvanicum) but these two species are infrequently available commercially. Both species prefer good drainage, no pruning whatsoever and some dappled afternoon shade to show at their best.
There are other trees with great bark, like our coastal madrone (Arbutus menziesii) but few people can actually grow it successfully. Beech trees have interesting elephant-like bark, if you like gray. The Kentucky coffee-tree (Gymnocladus dioicus) has rough, ridged brown bark but it's a large tree. The white flowered Tibetan cherry (Prunus serrula) is stunning with its crimson-mahogany coloured bark but it can be hard to find and it does not take kindly to pruning.
And no collection of beautifully barked trees would be complete without the Japanese stewartia (Stewartia pseudocamellia). Stewartia offers year round interest with its white flowers in summer, stunning red fall colour and beautiful bark that exfoliates to reveal a patchwork of green, brown, tan and shades of silver. It is ideal for small gardens growing about five metres tall, tolerating a range of soil conditions but is does not take kindly to barbaric pruning practices.
For all plants, but trees specifically, maturity is virtue realized. So you have to buy big, be patient and you will be rewarded.
Todd Major is a journeyman horticulturist and chief horticulture instructor at the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden.
