The seeds are small nuts, known as mast, which are great food for wildlife and pigs, but toxic to horses and dogs in some quantity: one or two nuts won't do any harm. The woolly beech aphid makes honeydew and is favoured by bumble and solitary bees, perhaps because there are fewer ants to guard them high up in the canopy. The small, wind pollinated flowers aren't noticeable, but bees love the pollen. Because of this variation among and between cultivated and wild copper beech, it is classified variously as Fagus sylvatica Purpurea, atropurpurea, cuprea or atropunicea, and for simplicity the RHS opts for the term Atropurpurea Group. Our copper beech standards are reproduced by grafting from the best specimens, to ensure a rich, reliable leaf colour. Did You Know?Ĭommon green beech trees naturally produce the occasional purple-leaved seedling, which can vary from still quite greenish to dark purple-nearly-black these seedlings have been bred together to produce the modern varieties of garden copper beech. It likes heavy clay on slopes, hilltops and other areas that shed, rather than collect, water in winter. Although Copper Beech will tolerate some shade, the leaves will be less purple if planted in partial shade and if the tree does not get enough sun, its leaves will revert to green.
COPPER BEECH FULL
It is suitable for any soil type as long as the drainage is good, including chalk, and it should be planted in full sun. Good source of pollen & honeydew for bees.Browse our variety of beech trees or our range of garden trees. Standard trees are the largest size that we deliver you can also buy younger Copper Beech saplings. Purple Beech trees can reach 25-30 metres. We don't really agree with that evaluation, as long as you plant it in full sun to encourage the richest leaf colour and to show off the tree to its best advantage. Some people consider it sombre and cheerless in midsummer, when its leaves turn purple-black. Purple beech is loveliest in the spring, with its fresh copper-bronze leaves shine against the pale grey bark.
It is not quite as big as green beech and grows more slowly, but mature specimens are just as impressive and, being the largest trees with purple leaves found in Britain, are still only suitable for a large garden. The Copper or Purple Beech tree, Fagus sylvatica Purpurea, is a natural variation of Green Beech with copper coloured young leaves that darken to dark purple, and the autumn colour has a richer orange hue. Fagus sylvatica Purpurea: Purple / Copper Beech, Standard Size Trees