Let’s say that you are the potentate of a small European nation. You do not want to wait around for years while trees grow and gardeners prune. Since 1986, the Solitair Nursery in Loenhout, Belgium has been providing wholesale customers (i.e.
Photography via Solitair Nursery.
professional garden designers, landscape contractors, and municipalities) with just the things they want for a big property: specimen trees, distinctive standards, and shrubs in many shapes.
Quercus cerris, Turkey oak, surrounded by some of Solitair’s inventory of shaped shrubs. This tree, which is native to southern Europe and western Asia, is seldom offered for sale commercially in the U.S. Solitair specializes in hard-to-find trees.
Buxus sempervirens, boxwood, pruned into flat balls.
Taxus baccata, English yew, shaped into balls at Solitair.
These unusual standards are yews, Taxus baccata, shaped into rectangles.
Taxus baccata grown as a hedging plant at Solitair.
The huge Solitair greenhouse was built in 2013 and can hold trees as tall as 45 feet.
Salix alba, white willow, is native to Europe, central Asia, and northern Africa and is seldom offered for sale.
Carpinus betulus, hornbeam, trees are commonly used as specimen and street trees. To see hornbeam hedges in a garden, see Hornbeam: A Hedge for All Seasons.
Prunus lusitanica augustifolia, Portuguese laurel, in a tree form. This small leafed-cultivar also can be hard clipped into a hedge.