Tilia platyphyllos Rubra

Tilia platyphyllos Rubra, is a variety of the native Broad Leaved Lime with lustrous, ruddy red young stems and buds. It is a smaller, less vigorous tree than its parent, which makes it easier to maintain as a roadside tree where space it limited. In early summer, it produces lots of simple, sweetly scented white flowers that aren't very showy but which provide bountiful nectar for bees. The seeds are attached by a stalk to a modified leaf which spins around enough to carry them away from the parent tree when they fall; if seedlings appear on your lawn, just run over them with the lawn mower. Red-twigged lime doesn't have such a powerful suckering habit as other limes making it a better choice as a specimen tree. Like all lime trees it is very pollution resistant. Left to grow freely, this tree will spread out into a wide, pyramidal shape but it is very happy to be pollarded to restrict its size. Tilia platyphyllos rubra can reach a height of about 12+ metres.

Browse our variety of lime trees or see our full range of trees for sale.

History & uses of Tilia platyphyllos Rubra: Older books may list this tree as 'Corallina'. It is a naturally occurring variety, sometimes found in old woodland, and the trees that we grow are cloned vegetatively to ensure that they have a consistent colour and shape. You can make a tea from the first new flowers of the year, but do not use older flowers as they may make you feel sick. (Always this sort of thing carefully before actually doing it...)

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.

Notes on planting Red Twig Lime trees:
Tilia platyphyllos Rubra is a hardy tree that will grow on any fertile soil and it does well in partial shade. It likes heavy clay and it is suitable for inner city planting.
Lime trees don't like boggy, wet ground or poor, dry soils.

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.

Misc	Wildlife Value
Shade	Partial Shade
Area	Exposed Windy Areas
Soil	Acidic
Type	Native, Screening

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

Red-Twigged Lime Trees

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Tilia platyphyllos Rubra