Thanks for your enquiry about your copper beech hedging. I cannot find your email address on our system and as we do not deliver to Eire I am assuming you bought these elsewhere. Copper beech foliage can be variable when the leaves are very young but they will be shades of pink/light copper – not green. I am afraid it sounds as if someone sold you a mixed batch. Given how much more expensive copper beech is than green we would recommend you talk to your supplier and ask for replacements to be delivered in the autumn (assuming they were bare-rooted) as it is too late to plant now.

Hope this helps

Lovely to hear we are so widely read – thank you very much. A large tree coming down is always a sad thing – we lost a huge beech in our garden three years ago and it still looks as if it has its front teeth missing…

I am afraid I cannot give you a US reference for large trees – it is a specialised marketplace and we have no knowledge of American growers and sellers. I am sorry.

What I would say however is that you would be well advised to deal with the stump as soon as possible. Grind it out or burn it out, but do not leave it as it is. Dead tree stumps act as a magnet for honey fungus (lating: armillaria). Once you have it, there is no real way to eradicate it and it can lay waste to the most beautiful trees and plants in a terrifyingly short space of time. So do not be sentimental – deal with the stump…

Julian

Hi Jennifer,
From the winter after planting onwards, your young hedge should be trimmed very lightly once a year, until it is mature.
When it is fully grown, you should clip Copper Beech hedging in late summer to make it hold its autumn leaves right through the winter.
The ideal day for a trim is overcast with rain on the way; full sun on the freshly cut leaves can cause the edges to brown and plants always like to have a drink after a trim.

Copper Beech is a very tough hedge plant that shouldn’t need special attention once it has established. If you didn’t use a mulch fabric, it is beneficial to mulch around the base of the hedge each year with well rotted manure or compost.
Hope this helps.

Hi Julian, I’ve enjoyed your blog on this magnificent specimen. I write you from the US as I am interested in replacing a copper beech we lost to storms. Our “tree” had a trunk that was 5 FEET in diameter. The beech was easily 80-90 feet tall. We live on a farm that was historically traced to Jubal Early’s brother, a friend of Thomas Jefferson. It appears that these copper beech were brought over from the UK and planted as a sign of wealth and stature. We were heartbroken when this giant came down in a harsh storm. We’ve had an arborist tend to it in previous years. Now all that remains is a great stump, which I will not rid of until I find another tree!! I would appreciate a reference in the US where I could find another spectacular tree. Sincerely, Virginia Thornton

Hi Julian
I planted a bare-rooted copper beach hedge last October. All the specimens are doing very well. How do I look after this new hedge?