Purple / Copper Beech Trees

• Variety: Purple or Copper Beech, the biggest purple-leaved tree in Britain
• Common name: Copper beech, purple beech
• Latin name: Fagus sylvatica Atropurpurea Group
• Type: Deciduous tree
• Mature height: About 30m (100ft), over more than 50 years
• Spread: More than 8m
• Foliage: Deep purple, turning reddish-copper in autumn
• Soil: Most well-drained soils, chalk included
• Position: Full sun for the best colour. Tolerates partial shade
• Hardiness: H6, hardy through the British winter
• Roots: Grown on its own roots, not grafted
• Good for: Large gardens and parkland only
• Similar varieties: Green Beech (the species)
• Sold as: Bareroot standards, 6/8cm and 8/10cm girth
• Plant: November to April, while dormant
• Delivered: Bareroot, November to April. Collection from Castle Cary also available

Purple or Copper Beech, Fagus sylvatica Atropurpurea Group, is a large deciduous tree reaching about 30m over time, grown for deep purple leaves that turn reddish-copper in autumn. It takes most well-drained soils, chalk included, and colours best in full sun.

Purple / Copper Beech Trees

The Copper or Purple Beech tree, Fagus sylvatica Purpurea, is a natural variation of Green Beech with copper coloured young leaves that darken to dark purple, and the autumn colour has a richer orange hue. It's not quite as big as green beech and grows more slowly, but mature specimens are just as impressive and, being the largest trees with purple leaves found in Britain, are still only suitable for a large garden.
Purple beech is loveliest in the spring, when its fresh copper-bronze leaves shine against the pale grey bark. Some people consider it sombre and cheerless in midsummer, when its leaves turn purple-black. We don't really agree with that evaluation, as long as you plant it in full sun to encourage the richest leaf colour and to show off the tree to its best advantage.

Purple Beech trees can reach about 30 metres.

Standard trees are the largest size that we deliver; you can also buy younger Copper Beech saplings.
Browse our variety of beech trees or our range of garden trees.

Growing Purple Beech Trees

It's suitable for any soil type as long as the drainage is good, including chalk, and it should be planted in full sun. Although Copper Beech will tolerate some shade, the leaves will be less purple if planted in partial shade and if the tree doesn't get enough sun, its leaves will revert to green. It likes heavy clay on slopes, hilltops and other areas that shed, rather than collect, water in winter.

History & Trivia

Common green beech trees naturally produce the occasional purple-leaved seedling, which can vary from still quite greenish to dark purple-nearly-black; these seedlings have been bred together to produce the modern varieties of garden copper beech.
Because of this variation among and between cultivated and wild copper beech, it is classified variously as Fagus sylvatica Purpurea, atropurpurea, cuprea or atropunicea, and for simplicity the RHS opts for the term Atropurpurea Group.

The small, wind pollinated flowers aren't noticeable, but bees love the pollen. The woolly beech aphid makes honeydew and is favoured by bumble and solitary bees, perhaps because there are fewer ants to guard them high up in the canopy.

The seeds are small nuts, known as mast, which are great food for wildlife and pigs, but toxic to horses and dogs in some quantity: one or two nuts won't do any harm. They were eaten by people as a hard times food.

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.

Planting Companions

A copper beech is a full stop in a landscape, and it reads best against green. Plant it within sight of a Green Beech or an English Oak and each makes the other look better. On ground that lies wet in winter, where no beech is happy, a Hornbeam is the tree to use. The rest of the big ones are under trees for large gardens and parkland.

Why Ashridge?

Ashridge Nurseries has been selling trees since 1949 and is a Which? Best Plant Supplier 2025. Your copper beech arrives as a bareroot standard, which like for like is larger, stronger and better value than a potted tree. It is guaranteed for 12 months.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between copper beech and green beech?

Leaf colour, and a little vigour. Copper beech is a purple-leaved form of the same species, opening copper and darkening to deep purple. Green beech grows slightly faster.

Is a copper beech too big for my garden?

Unless you have a paddock, yes. It reaches about 30m, with a crown wider than 8m. For the same leaf on a domestic scale, plant copper beech as a hedge and clip it.

Will a copper beech grow on chalk?

Yes. The RHS describes copper beech as tolerant of a range of soils including chalk. Drainage matters more than soil type: avoid anywhere that collects water in winter.

Why are the leaves on my copper beech turning green?

Too little sun. The RHS puts it in a line: for best colour, position in full sun. In shade the purple dulls towards green, so give it an open site from the start.

Is beech mast harmful to dogs?

The RHS lists beech as harmful to dogs if eaten, meaning the nuts, or mast, that fall in autumn. One or two do no harm. Keep a dog that hoovers up everything off a heavy drop.

Does a standard beech tree need a stake?

Yes, for its first two years. Put the stake in at planting time so you do not spear the roots later, and check the tie each spring as the trunk thickens.