We Grow From SeedGolden Bough Tree Farm

I am pleased when walking in a labyrinth of my own raising, not to know whether the next tree I shall meet is an apple or an oak, an elm or a pear.
Joseph Addison; The Spectator, 1712

SHADE TREES

All our shade trees can be planted 3 to 4 m apart - as long-living fence posts.

XL Stock
Most of our stock is available in sizes easily shipped by mail, that is, under 1m.
‡ This symbol indicates plants that are also available in sizes over 1m. The price is the same but you'll have to come and pick them up. This year some items are available only in sizes over 1m and these are marked For Pick Up Only

Our Autumn pick-up date is Saturday, October 9, 2010 between 8am and 4pm. Please see Specials or this map to Marlbank for directions.

Amur Cork in winterAmur Cork in summerPhellodendron amurense
AMUR CORK Z3b/11m ‡
From N.E. Asia. Long feathery aromatic leaves. Tropical in appearance, with beautifully textured bark. Its medium shade does not compete with lawns. Clusters of black berries hang well into winter attracting wildlife. Competes well with coarse shrubs in shelter belts. Good for mid-ground under taller trees. Fine specimens at the Jardin Botanique de Montreal & the Dominion Arboretum, Ottawa. "Tolerant of a variety of soils. Withstands city conditions and drought... rapid growth... transplants readily. Few pests." H.O. Perkins, Ornamental Trees

Celtis occidentalis
HACKBERRY Z3/15m
Because of its vase shape & disease resistance, Hackberry makes the best native replacement for Elm. Crown is almost as wide as the tree is tall. Tiny flowers followed by small, dark, edible fruit of importance to overwintering birds. Its deep drought-resistant roots permit an underplanting of shade tolerant shrubs.

The best time to plant a tree was thirty years ago. The second-best time is now.
-Proverb

Ginkgo biloba
MAIDENHAIR GINKGO Z5/14m
Thought to be extinct in the age of the dinosaurs, re-discovered in a Chinese temple in the 19th century. Untroubled by modern pests, pollution tolerant & adaptable to any well-drained soil. Unusual fan-shaped leaves. Called 'Yin-Hing' or Silver Apricot by the Chinese for its medicinal seed. An ancient specimen in Korea is the largest tree in temperate Asia.

Gymnocladus dioicus
KENTUCKY COFFEE TREE Z4b/11m ‡
Dangling seedpods, akimbo limbs & long feathery leaves make this Appalachian native interesting in all seasons. Its shiny brown seeds resemble coffee beans. Root nodules contain nitrogen-fixing bacteria which enrich the soil.

Gleditsia triacanthos f. inermis
THORNLESS HONEY LOCUST Z4/14m
Delicate leaves give a light shade and disappear without raking. A rapid growing native Appalachian, Honey Locust is hardy in our mid-north where its ferny form looks almost African. In the pea family, its roots fix nitrogen. Interesting long twisted seed pods.

MAPLE

Acer pennsylvanicum
STRIPED MAPLE Z2b/3m ‡
 Grows in isolated groves throughout the N.E. yet most Canadians have never seen its lobe-leafed butter coloured autumn. Remarkable bark too; a serpenty green, decorated vertically in chalk pin-stripe. Ideal for rock gardens and small shaded areas.

Acer saccharum
SUGAR MAPLE Z4/22m ‡
Edible sap and unequalled fall plumage. Shade tolerant when young. Excellent large landscape tree; solo or in malls. Grown on calciferous soil our Sugar Maples are unstressed by acid rain and will make strong replacements in damaged syrup groves.

Unlike most living creatures, a tree keeps growing all its life.

Illustration of maple leaves

Acer saccharinum showing fall colors

Silver Maples, Salmon River, October.

Acer saccharinum
SILVER MAPLE Z3/25m ‡
One of eastern Canada's most beautiful shade trees. Fast growing. Tall and stately, its silvery leaves sparkle in a breeze. Prefers rich, moist bottomland and full sun.

Acer ginnala
AMUR MAPLE Z2/6m ‡
Shrub maple from N.E. Asia known for its bright fall colours & small but very fragrant May flowers. Wilder & far hardier than Japanese Maple, it serves many uses in the northern landscape. Cream-red samaras or seed keys attract wildlife. Used as accent plant or as hedging or for colonizing poor land.

BIRCH

Paper Birch in Winter Betula papyrifera
PAPER BIRCH Z2/20m ‡
The northern landscape seems incomplete without the dazzling bark of the Canoe or Paper Birch. Considered among the world's most beautiful trees, this elegant native prefers cool sites. Tolerates shade while young. Unsuited to linear plantings: best in pure groves hi-lighted against a stand of conifers. Bark turns white around the fifth year.

Willow

I believe a blade of grass is no less than the journeywork of the stars.
Walt Whitman

Salix pentandra
LAUREL-LEAF WILLOW Z4/8m ‡
Long, glossy leaves sparkle when lifted by a breeze. For a double-mint effect, plant near Silver Maple. Can prevent ravine erosion & stop ponds from slumping. Prairie hardy. One of our favourites.

A thing to take hot tempers out of us is to go gardening boldly in the spring ... hoping the utmost of everything.
John Ridd in Lorna Doone

Salix babylonica
WEEPING WILLOW Z3/11m
A northern-hardy form of the classic weeping willow of art & legend. Long slender drooping branchlets romanticize any property. Prefers water nearby.

Copyright © 2010 The Golden Bough Tree Farm