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HornbeamTree question

last year

I have a chance to purchase 7 hornbeam trees at a discount. my question is the are tagged as carpinus betulus columnaris are these the same as fastigiata?

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Comments (4)

gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
last year
No. 'Columnaris' and 'Fastigiata' are two separate cultivars of European hornbeam. 'Fastigiata' is the most commonly encountered of the two and it is a faster growing and taller and wider selection than 'Columnaris'. In fact, there is not much very fastigiate about 'Fastigiata', as over time it grows into a very plump, gumdrop shaped tree as much as 30' wide.

If you want the tree to remain skinny, look for 'Frans Fontaine'. All of the positive aspects of Fastigiata but with a 12-15' spread at most.

It should also be noted that it's not uncommon to have Columnaris and Fastigiata confused in the trade and therefore mistagged.
Harry
Original Author
last year
Thank you for the responseone. inwas really wanting the fastigiat…..looking for about a 15-20 width.

How wide will the columnars be and how slow are they to grow?
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gardengal48 (PNW Z8/9)
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Columnaris will hit maybe 2/3 the height of Fastigiata and with a spread of 15-20'. Fastigiata will wind up about twice that width. Columnaris also develops at a slower rate than Fastigiata but no hornbeam grows very quickly anyway.

I would Google images of both cultivars to see how they spread out with age and relative size differences. And I will point out again that neither of those two cultivars is very columnar, fastigiate or narrow despite their cultivar names.
Harry
Original Author
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Thank you for the help

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