Rowan makes the cut

The tree was – is – a mountain ash, a rowan, and it self-seeded at the back of a border. When it reached 10ft in height, I took it off at ground level. Twelve months later, it is again 10ft high.

So, it’s proved that it comes from a family of hardy, if not determined trees, and it may have earned the right to continue growing in the border. If left alone, it should eventually become a decent-sized specimen and not look too out of place.

A lot of gardeners also grow certain members of the mountain ash family because they don’t get too big for their roots.

Unfortunately, a lot more gardeners don’t pick the right variety and that’s why we see massive trees dwarfing homes.

Rowans, which right now are heavy with berries, come in a multitude of sizes.

So why plant a large-growing specimen when there are numerous more accommodating forms which will grace a space rather than overpower it?

Sorbus aucuparia is the most commonly grown variety, and it’s a beauty. But it grows too big for the majority of today’s gardens, and when the wind and rain arrives in October, its leaves and berries are whipped off to clog drains, block gutters and fill ponds.

The mountain ash grows well in just about any soil, it tolerates air pollution, it’s hardy and it provides a wonderful splash of colour in late summer and early autumn. And as it’s the most commonly available form of the tree, it’s easy to see why it has become so popular.

But if you don’t have the room but feel that you must still grow a rowan, shop around and seek out the smaller varieties like S x thuringiaca ‘Fastigiata’, a mouthful of a tree which possesses all the best of its parents (the whitebeam and the rowan) but which is shapelier and more suited to a small garden.

Or S vilmorinii, slender and attractive; S scalaris, which produces the best berries of any rowan; S meliosmifolia, a Chinese cracker.

And if in doubt, grow something else, something that you know will keep compact, shapely and which will never need to feel the woodman’s axe.

Soon it will be the perfect time to plant – the soil is warm and moist, so look no further for motivation. Just choose your tree with care.