leaves of purple fastigiate beech are too green

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laurencewithau
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leaves of purple fastigiate beech are too green

Post by laurencewithau »

Hi. I have just received some Fagus sylvatica 'Dawyck Purple' trees, otherwise known as purple fastigiate beech. As you can see from the photo, they are 1.5 to 2 metres tall. I think they are 2-3 years old. The problem is that the leaves, apart from one or two, are green. I'd be grateful for any comments as to whether they really are purple beech and when I can expect them to turn purple. It's July and I'm in South Wales, UK.
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dewaltdisney
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Re: leaves of purple fastigiate beech are too green

Post by dewaltdisney »

I think they turn in Autumn to a copper colour but the tree does not shed its leaves and the dry copper leaves last until spring when new growth clears them down. I think?

DWD
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dewaltdisney
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Re: leaves of purple fastigiate beech are too green

Post by dewaltdisney »

Or I am thinking of copper Beech :scratch:

DWD
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ayjay
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Re: leaves of purple fastigiate beech are too green

Post by ayjay »

dewaltdisney wrote:Or I am thinking of copper Beech :scratch:

DWD
Same thing dw, and fastigiate is just the growth habit, i.e. narrow.

I have a Copper Beech hedge out the back that I planted, the leaves on mine do develop slightly more colour as they get older in the season but they're never green.
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mick.mh2racing
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Re: leaves of purple fastigiate beech are too green

Post by mick.mh2racing »

It also could be to do with that age of the plants, becoming more purple as the trees get older.
Have you ever noticed that beech hedging keeps it's leaves over winter even though they're dead? And then starts to lose them in Autumn when the plants mature.

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