Beech
Fagus sylvatica
A hedge or a specimen tree, but either way the clipping window is narrow: once, in late summer, and no more.
Spacing & sowing
- Plant spacing
- 19 ft 8 in
- In-row spacing
- 19 ft 8 in
- Between rows
- 24 ft 7 in
- Square-foot density
- Not suited to SFG
Growing
- Type
- Tree · Perennial
- Botanical family
- Mixed / other
- Sunlight
- Full sun to light shade; it wants an open position more than anything.
- Watering
- Water young trees through dry spells; mature ones need nothing.
- Feeding
- No feed for established trees; a balanced feed for young ones through their first two springs.
- Frost tolerant
- Yes
- Pruning
- Clip hedges once in late summer (August), and confine work on specimen trees to the same window.
- Overwintering
- Fully hardy — no winter protection needed.
Through the year
- Apr–Apr Bud Break
- Apr–Oct Spring Growth
- Oct–Nov Growing
- Nov–Dec Leaf Fall
- Jan–Apr Leaf Fall
Pests & problems
Garden allies
Beneficial predators that hunt this plant's pests — grow their favourite flowers nearby to recruit them. companion plant
- Green lacewing Chrysoperla carneaHunts Adelgids & woolly aphids
Its bristly larvae — "aphid lions" — impale aphids, mealybugs, thrips, and mite colonies, eating hundreds a week. Adults feed on nectar and pollen from small open flowers and overwinter in hollow stems left standing.
- Ladybird (lady beetle) CoccinellidaeHunts Adelgids & woolly aphids
The gardener’s favorite ally: adults and their alligator-shaped larvae each eat thousands of aphids, plus scale, mealybugs, and other soft-bodied sap-suckers. Grow flat, open flowers for the adults and never spray a colony that ladybird larvae are already working.
The Cottage Garden Companion — the gardener's herbarium at cottagegardencompanion.com