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 Spring pick-up dates are April 21/22, and April 28/29, 2012 between 8am and 4pm. Please see Specials or this map to Marlbank for directions.

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.

Kentucky Coffee Tree

18 year old Kentucky Coffee Tree, unfortunately in the wrong place.

Kentucky Coffee Tree

Sizing up a valuble Kentucky Coffee Tree log with a chalk-line. Now it can be cut on site by a chain saw rather than trucked to a mill.

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.

Fraxinus nigra
BLACK ASH Z2b/16m ‡
 The northernmost Canadian Ash, named for its shiny blue-black buds & dark heartwood. This slender, long-boled water lover also flourishes on upland moraines. Dislikes shade. The preferred ash for basket making. Golden fall foliage.

In Norse sagas, the river of fate rises from beneath the Ash.

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.

BEECH

Fagus grandifolia
AMERICAN BEECH Z4/18m
Hardier than it's European forms and of almost haunting beauty, our one native Beech is easily identified by it's smooth grey bark, fluted trunk & persistent winter leaves. It's nuts feed both man and beast. Beech tolerate shade and a wide range of pH. Leaf mulch needed to activate the feeding rootlets is included for tilling into the soil.

MAPLE

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 ‡
Though unfashionable with present day landscapers, this is 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 glabrum
ROCKY MOUNTAIN MAPLE Z5b?/5m
Narrow-topped, often multi-stemmed shrub maple found along the Rockies from Alaska to California. Leaves shining above, pale beneath, on attractive reddish stalks. Useful ornamental. Rarely offered in the east.

The many lovely forms of Japanese Maples rarely survive North of Zone 6, where our two offerings of Striped or Snake-Bark Maples fill a landscaping niche. Both are frost-hardy and shade tolerant, the N. American form preferring acidic soils while the Manchurian flourishes on more alkaline glacial till.

Acer pennsylvanicum
STRIPED MAPLE Z3/4m
 N. America's only snake-bark maple, this shy native grows in isolated groves on granitic soils throughout the N.E. yet few ever notice it. Chalk stripes highlight the greenish bark which reddens in winter. Glowing amber autumn foliage. Ideal cottage tree.

Acer tegmentosum
MANCHURIAN STRIPED MAPLE Z3?/4m
The most robust of the snake-bark maples and best suited to calciferous soils. More densely leafed and rounded then its N. American cousin and equally shade tolerant. Bright red twigs and vibrant green and white striped bark.

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.

Salix sachalinensis 'Sekka'
FANTAIL WILLOW Z4/3m
An unearthly mound, popular in Japanese gardens. Named for it's surreal branch-ends which flatten into fans, like goldfish tails. Low form useful around ponds where it's roots retain earth without expensive foundations.

Earth is a goddess. She teaches justice to those who can learn, for the better she is served, the more good she gives in return. Xenophon, Greek general and farmer, 400 B.C.

Salix nigra
BLACK WILLOW Z4/25m ‡
Fine examples of Canada's largest Willow grow on Toronto's Centre Island. Dramatic, dark, deeply fissured bark rings the huge trunk. Grows with astonishing speed. Great for climbing.

Copyright © 2012 The Golden Bough Tree Farm