Bark so thin it stays perfectly smooth at any age, leafage so dark and dense that little grows beneath it, and triangular nuts that press into an edible oil: beech (Fagus sylvatica) is grown right across Europe for its timber and for the coolest shade of any shade tree. Give it any soil that never lies soggy, and it will stand for several hundred years.
| Name | Fagus sylvatica |
|---|---|
| Family | Fagaceae |
| Type | tree |
| Height | 30 to 120 feet (10 to 40 meters) |
| Climate | temperate |
| Exposure | full sun |
| Soil | ordinary |
| Foliage | Deciduous |
| Flowering | mid-spring May |
Beech is, like most trees, planted in fall. If purchased in a container with soil, you’ve got a bit more leeway since you can wait until the end of spring to transfer it to the ground.
Follow our detailed advice on how to plant a tree.
As a hedge, keep a distance of 3 to 4 feet (100 to 120 cm) between two consecutive saplings.
Now, it isn’t mandatory at all to prune your beech tree, and if you’ve got the space it will look really nice if you let it grow naturally. But it’s also possible to reduce and control the size of your beech tree if need be. In that case, the best time to prune beech is in fall or in spring, just take care to work on days when it doesn’t freeze.
Note that whenever beech grows alongside pastures and cattle or horses often graze its leaves, it tends to stay small and grow like a hedge, never really growing any taller than the animals themselves. Prune off old branches during winter, this will trigger branching out and increase the lushness of its foliage.
Beech asks for very little, but the few jobs it does need each fall on a particular season. Here is what to do, and when.
| Job | Best time | What to watch for |
|---|---|---|
| Planting | Fall, or up to late spring for container plants | Avoid soggy ground; mulch on planting |
| Size-control pruning | Fall or spring | Never work on freezing days |
| Removing old branches | Winter | Triggers branching and denser foliage |
| Routine care | None once established | Watch for fungus and scale insects |
Left to itself in open ground, a beech will shape itself better than any saw can.
Beech is famous for the quality of its wood. Many people also love its seeds! The triangular beechnuts, when pressed, even produce an excellent edible oil. Since it’s indifferent to soil type, it should grow fine nearly everywhere. Once grown and settled in, no further maintenance is needed for beech.
The hardiness to freezing and cold of beech goes down to -4°F (-20°C), which makes it a hardy tree by any measure. Not often prone to disease, you might observe fungal developments and sometimes even scale insects, which tend to weaken the tree.
A very tall tree, it easily grows to over 60 feet tall (20 meters) and the lifespan of a beech tree easily lasts several hundred years. Beech bark is very easy to identify, especially in winter: it’s very thin, and stays very smooth at any age.
Beech is one of the most famous and oft-grown trees across Europe, specifically even now in forestry. It is quite common to find forests that are exclusively populated with beech trees, but it’s more generally planted together with other species such as common oak (Quercus), often just called oak.
Its wood is much appreciated in furniture making, sculpting and to prepare stable workbenches, and it’s an excellent source of firewood.
Fruits of the beech tree are called beechnuts.
Beyond the plain green woodland tree, beech has given rise to a handful of forms that are widely sold in garden centres and tree nurseries, differing in leaf colour, shape and habit. The table below sets out the ones you are most likely to meet, and what each is best used for.
| Variety | Leaf colour | Habit | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| ‘Pendula’ (weeping beech) | Green | Wide-spreading, weeping | Dramatic specimen where space allows |
| ‘Aspleniifolia’ (fern-leaved beech) | Green, fine cut leaf | Broad, domed, large | Textural specimen tree |
| ‘Dawyck Purple’ | Dark purple | Narrow, columnar | Vertical accent, screening in a line |
| ‘Purple Fountain’ | Purple | Narrow weeping, upright leader | Weeping form for a tight spot |
| ‘Purpurea’ (copper beech) | Deep purple | Broad, domed, very large | Specimen tree for parkland |
| ‘Dawyck Gold’ | Yellow in spring, greening later | Narrow, columnar | Bright accent in a small garden |
| ‘Purpurea Pendula’ | Purple | Weeping mushroom head, small | Small gardens, focal point |
| ‘Atropunicea’ | Dark purple-black | Broad, domed, very large | Large specimen, avenue planting |
| ‘Riversii’ | Very dark purple, holds colour | Broad, domed, large | Best purple for a lawn specimen |
| ‘Dawyck’ | Green | Narrow, columnar | Tight spaces, formal avenues |
| ‘Red Obelisk’ | Purple, slightly waved leaf | Narrow, upright | Street and courtyard planting |
| ‘Laciniata’ | Green, deeply cut leaf | Broad, large | Specimen for a lighter canopy |
| ‘Rohanii’ | Purple, cut and lobed leaf | Upright then rounded, medium | Slower-growing purple specimen |
| ‘Zlatia’ | Golden yellow young leaves | Upright, medium to large | Golden specimen, part shade preferred |
Beech leafage is dark and dense: the shade it provides is among the coolest of all shade trees. A welcome gift during sweltering summers! To further increase its ornamental appeal, in addition to the regular green color, it’s easy to get your hands on purple-leaved specimens.
