Populus Tremula

The Common European Aspen is usually called Quaking or Trembling Aspen. It has long, thin leaf stems that end in broad leaves that wobble when there is no wind and begin to flutter in the smallest breeze. Populus tremula is a native, deciduous tree that has a slender trunk with pale, slightly creamy bark and a lollipop shaped canopy. Before the leaves come out in early spring, male trees produce lovely red and grey catkins that look uncannily like big fuzzy caterpillars; Aspen is also noted for supporting a wide range of different butterfly and moth larvae. Female trees have plain green catkins that erupt in tiny, white haired seeds that are carried in the wind. The leaves are oval shaped, with a wavy outline, and turn a bright, clean yellow in autumn.

Aspen can have an extraordinary suckering habit and there is a famous tree in Wales that has at least a thousand suckering trunks and covers an hectare of land. It won't be taking over your garden though - the Welsh tree is several centuries old and the original trunk of the tree is long gone. In any case, a thicket of suckers creates a valuable habitat for a large number of insects.

Aspen trees can reach a height of about 25 metres. Standard trees are the largest size that we deliver; you can also buy younger Populus tremula plants here. Browse our variety of large garden trees or view our full range of trees for sale.

How Standard Trees are Measured:
All the plants in the ornamental trees section are graded as standards, which means that they are measured by their girth in centimetres 1 metre above ground level (basically, their trunk's waist measurement). They aren't measured by their height, which will vary. So, a 6/8 standard has a trunk with a circumference of 6-8 centimetres and an 8/10 standard has a trunk 8-10 centimetres around. This measurement makes no difference to the tree's final height.
Standard trees are 2 - 3.5 metres tall (on average) when they arrive; they are the most mature trees that you can buy from us. We cannot tell you precisely how tall your trees will be before we deliver them.

General description of Quaking Aspen trees:

Please note that we do not sell female trees because they produce vast numbers of invasive seeds that can cause a real nuisance to you and your neighbours.

History & uses of Populus tremula:
Being so light and easy to work, Quaking Aspen wood is one of the most commonly used timbers for making matches. This vigorous and tidy tree is great for a medium to large sized garden. It was awarded the RHS's Award of Garden Merit in 2002.

Notes on planting Quaking Aspen trees:
Although Aspen Poplars like wet soil, they can also be found growing on cliff faces, which proves that they aren't fussy. The only thing that they won't tolerate is chalk. We generally advise against pruning your tree unless absolutely necessary because they form a neat, round crown all by themselves and even mild pruning will greatly encourage their suckers (so if you want lots of sucking stems, you know what to do).

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 glyphosate based 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 Roundup weed killer.
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.
You can also improve your soil with bonemeal organic fertiliser and Growmore.

Read our full terms and conditions here.

Delivery: The basic delivery charge for orders of bareroot plants is £6.50 + vat, which increases to £12.55 + vat if you add any pot-grown plants, standard trees or fruit trees to the order.
Because couriers sometimes experience delays, we schedule delivery by week, not by day. Therefore, please plan your planting day for the weekend at the end of the delivery week or for the week following delivery, at the earliest.
We will email you the day before your plants are due to arrive.

*Surcharges to the Highlands and Islands still apply.

Payment: We do not charge your card until we begin to prepare your order for packing.

Guarantee: If any plants die within a year, we will replace them. We only ask that you follow our planting & growing instructions and sent us clear photographs of the dead plants in situ, so we can help to make sure that the replacement plants succeed. You only pay for the delivery of the replacements.

Please note that our guarantee is void if there is a hosepipe ban in your area: your newly planted hedging must be watered in dry weather while it is establishing. The best way to water is very thoroughly every few days: at least once a week if there is no heavy rain.

Our nursery has been supplying container grown and bareroot hedging plants to gardeners, farmers and town planners since 1949. Our website started in 2003, so we do understand the concerns that you may have about buying hedging plants online. If any of your plants are damaged when they arrive or if you are otherwise not satisfied with your order after you inspect it, please repackage it and contact us. We will give you a refund or send replacements and send a courier to come and collect the unwanted plants.

Area	Exposed Windy Areas
Soil	Wet
Type	Screening
Also Good	Autumn Colour

	NUMBER OF PLANTS
SIZES	1-2	3-9	10+
6/8 std Bareroot	Plenty of Stock£34.95	Plenty of Stock£31.20	Plenty of Stock£21.75
8/10 std Bareroot	Plenty of Stock£49.95	Plenty of Stock£47.95	Plenty of Stock£45.95

Aspen Trees

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Populus Tremula