Sheerwater Seedling Rowan, Large Trees

Sorbus aucuparia Sheerwater Seedling: Bareroot Rowan Trees in Standard Sizes

Sorbus aucuparia Sheerwater Seedling is a small but vigorous native Rowan with a long season of decorative value, naturally forming a neat oval crown without pruning.
Clumps of small white flowers that look furry from a distance appear in May: bees love them. By late summer, these develop into large bunches of brilliant red-orange berries which become a major food source for birds, especially blackbirds and thrushes.
It has an excellent autumn finale. By October, the leaves are turning into a rich mass of colour with the shiny berries drawing all the greens, yellows and blazing reds into one visual feast.

Ideal for the smaller garden, it can reach a height of about 10 metres, or approximately 4 metres as a half standard, and no more than 4-5 wide when fully mature.

Standard trees are the largest size that we deliver; you can also buy native Mountain Ash saplings.
Browse all of our other varieties of Rowan / Mountain Ash trees.

Delivery season: Rowan trees are delivered bareroot during late autumn and winter, approximately November-March inclusive.
Choosing a size: Small trees are cheaper, easier to handle and more forgiving of less than ideal aftercare, so they are best for a big planting project. If instant impact is your priority, or if you are only buying a few plants for use in a place where it is convenient to water them well in their first year, then you may as well use bigger ones. All our bareroot trees are measured by their height in centimetres above the ground (the roots aren't measured).

Features:

• Height: Upright and compact to 10m
• White flowers. Bright red berries. Great autumn colour.
• Soil: Any well drained, dislikes heavy clay
• Use: Specimen, small garden, large container, avenue, urban
• RHS Award of Garden Merit
• RHS Plants for Pollinators
• Bareroot delivery only: November-March

Growing Sheerwater Seedling Rowans

Any well drained soil, thrives on poor soil in full sun or partial shade. Happy on chalk, dislikes heavy clay. Drought tolerant when established. Suitable for large containers designed for trees. Very tolerant of pollution.

If the birds don't get them first, the berries can be cooked, usually into jelly, although we recommend Edulis for its sweeter fruit if you plan to harvest them.

Did You Know?

This variety was found beside a stream in Sheerwater near Woking. Rowland Jackman (1902-1976), manager of Jackman Nursery, brought it to market around 1950. Jackman's were one of the top clematis breeders in the mid 1800's, producing the C. x jackmanii hybrids, which now have close to a hundred cultivars, including Barbara Jackman, which Rowland bred for his wife.

Rowans are native to Britain and northern Europe. They were revered by ancient Scottish tribes, who called the rowan the Lady of the Mountain and it was taboo to cut them down for firewood. This was out of both awe and practical concerns: they can grow on barren, rocky mountain peaks where no other British trees will survive and the berries were an essential source of vitamin C. Some historians believe that the red lines on a kilt symbolise Rowan berries.

Standard trees are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level: their trunk's waist measurement. Unlike sapling trees and hedge plants, standards aren't measured by their height, which will vary quite a bit both between and within species.
So, a 6/8cm standard tree has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8cm and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10cm around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
On average, standard trees are 2-3.5 metres tall when they arrive, but we cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.

Notes on planting Sorbus aucuparia Sheerwater Seedling trees:
Your trees will thrive on any soil with decent drainage. Plant them in a sunny spot if you want the best displays of flowers and berries.

Prepare your site before planting:
It is good to dig over the site where you plant a tree several months in advance. Kill the weeds first: for tough weeds like nettles, brambles and ground elder, you will usually need a weed-killer to get rid of them. When you dig the soil over, remove stones and other rubbish and mix in well rotted compost or manure down to the depth of about 2 spades.

Watch our video on how to plant a tree for full instructions.
Remember to water establishing trees during dry weather for at least a year after planting.

Tree Planting accessories:
Prepare your site for planting by killing the weeds and grass with Neudorff WeedFree Plus.
You can buy a tree planting pack with a wooden stake & rubber tie to support the tree and a mulch mat with pegs to protect the soil around the base of your tree from weeds and drying out.
We suggest that you use mycorrhizal "friendly fungi" on the roots of all newly planted large trees: if your soil quality is poor, we strongly recommend it.
However, if you use Rootgrow, there is no need to also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser or Growmore.