SOPHISTICATED PYRAMIDAL TREE WITH GOLDEN FALL COLOR
FEATURES:
- Textured forest-green leaves change bright yellow in fall
- Low-maintenance, and little pruning needed - looking clean and cut all on its own
- Drought-tolerant
- Upright growth habit lends itself well as a wonderful screening tree and unique hedge
- Hand selected fresh from our grower
- Ships on our trucks because of the size of the tree - does not fit in a box
Growth Facts
- Hardiness Zone: 4-8
- Mature Height: 40-50' tall
- Mature Width: 15-20' wide
- Exposure: Sun/Shade
- Spacing: 15-30' apart
Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeam
Bower & Branch Trees and Plants
Carpinus betulus 'Frans Fontaine'
Regular price
1 (866) 873-3888
Monday - Thursday: 8AM - 8PM
Friday & Saturday 9AM - 4PM
SOPHISTICATED PYRAMIDAL TREE WITH GOLDEN FALL COLOR
FEATURES:
- Textured forest-green leaves change bright yellow in fall
- Low-maintenance, and little pruning needed - looking clean and cut all on its own
- Drought-tolerant
- Upright growth habit lends itself well as a wonderful screening tree and unique hedge
- Hand selected fresh from our grower
- Ships on our trucks because of the size of the tree - does not fit in a box
Growth Facts
- Hardiness Zone: 4-8
- Mature Height: 40-50' tall
- Mature Width: 15-20' wide
- Exposure: Sun/Shade
- Spacing: 15-30' apart
Why plant Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeam?
A tough tree with a stately appearance, Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam gets the job done with style. In spring, deep green foliage emerges and maintains its color through summer. By autumn, the dark green leaves of Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam turn a warm golden color, providing a nice counterpoint to the fiery Maples and Red Oaks. The color typically lasts into November. Often, the dried leaves will hold on into the winter, providing extended screening coverage.
Because of its rock-hard wood (“horn” alludes to hardness, while “beam” is an Old English word for “tree”), Hornbeam has played many roles in human life. Through the ages, it has found its way into tool handles, butcher blocks, spokes, yokes, and piano keys. These days, it is more likely to live out its days as a hedge or screen. Frans Fontaine is a special, upright-oval selection found in the Netherlands. It may be a bit narrower than the older variety known as the Columnar European Hornbeam.
How to use Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeam in the landscape?
This is a formal-looking, upright-growing tree that assumes a tightly columnar shape in youth, becoming a wider oval after many years. It makes an elegant, sturdy street tree or a fine screening tree in time. Amenable to heavy pruning, you can even shear Frans Fontaine annually to maintain it as a slim, tidy hedge. Plant a whole row along your property line to block views into your home and outdoor living space. Long-lived and trouble-free.
Planting Zones
Hardiness Zone: 4-8
How To Plant Frans Fontaine Columnar Hornbeam
A caveat: that slender young Frans Fontaine European Hornbeam will get big— up to 50 feet tall and 20 feet wide by some estimates. It’s not a fast growing tree, so it won’t happen overnight, but if you plan on keeping this plant at a certain size, be prepared to do some clipping. Otherwise, this tree is low maintenance and easy to please. Give it a sunny site and soil that doesn’t stay soggy, and it will be happy. It can even play the part of hard-knock city tree, shrugging off pollution, poor soil, and drought.
How To Water
Water twice weekly for the first 3-5 weeks; then water weekly for the remainder of the year until winter. When you water, water very slowly and very thoroughly. The water needs to reach to the bottom of the root ball and that takes time. Watering needs may be altered due to extreme weather conditions.
How To Fertilize
Incorporate Elements Starter Plant food granular form into the soil when planting. If planting in spring or summer, start fertilizing late fall using Elements Starter Plant food granular form on an annual basis each late fall. If planting in the fall, use Elements fertilizer while planting and start your regular annual fertilizing the following fall. Continue this for the first three years to get your plant well established as it gives your tree the nutrients it needs to produce lush new growth for the following spring.
How To Prune
Prune as necessary to remove broken or crossing branches or to raise the branching height of your tree. The best time to prune hornbeam is late fall or early winter.
How Does Shipping Work?
Bower & Branch Trees, the real BIG trees, don’t fit in a box! Our big trees, sizes XL and bigger, require expert delivery and care, that means our extra-large trees are shipped on Bower & Branch trucks. We are the only ones who know how to ship our big and bigger trees and plants with tender loving care. We deliver your trees and plants directly to you. Ask Bower & Branch about planting services – we'd be happy to assist in installation.
*For Big trees and Shrubs, Size XL and bigger: Review our Seasonal Shipping Timelines and Policy here.
Your trees and plants are grown across the United States at various Bower & Branch Growers. Depending on your location, your plant orders may be shipped from various locations. Please expect orders with multiple items to be delivered over a number of days as a result. Orders made up of numerous items or selections will not arrive at your home on the same day.
Shipping Delays:
From time to time, Bower & Branch Growers may determine to delay order shipment based on various factors for plant health. Weather in your region, as well as, where your plants are grown, is always considered when shipping. Extreme weather conditions may delay some or all of your order. Bower & Branch allows our Growers to make final shipping decisions based solely to benefit your trees and plants’ health and success.
How Does Sizing Work?
The size of our trees have nothing to do with the container size like you may find elsewhere–big doesn't mean just height - it’s also vigor, age, and overall health. Other online retailers are going to tell you that a plant is a seven gallon, that means nothing to your tree or plant (or you.)
Our trees for sale online are graded on large, x-large, and even bigger sizes. This is because our trees are sized by their age—the higher the letter, the more mature the tree. The age determines the trees’ overall height, size of the trunk and the overall branch density.
All of these characteristics are what you should be looking for when choosing a tree for immediate impact and instant curb appeal. Our extra-large tree and plant sizes are sure to wow you and your neighbors!
See the size guides below.
Our Guarantees
3-YEAR-TREE GUARANTEE:
Bower & Branch offers a Three-Year Tree Guarantee on all of our trees, sizes X-Large and up. Only the finest and the most experienced growers are awarded the opportunity to grow for Bower & Branch, so we offer the best guarantee available.
If your tree(s) should fail for any reason during the three-year guarantee period, you will receive an online gift card in the amount that you originally spent on the tree.* You can then use this online gift card for any Bower & Branch Purchase.
* Bower & Branch provides online gift cards in the amount of the original purchase price of the tree(s). The amount does not include any additional costs such as delivery, planting, tax, or any other products or services. Online gift cards can be applied towards any Bower & Branch purchase on BowerandBranch.com and have no expiration dates. Bower & Branch does not guarantee tree replacement or availability of any desired product at any time. Cash refunds are not offered. Bower & Branch requires that all original tags and receipts are present when a guarantee request is initiated. The Bower & Branch Three-Year Guarantee only applies to plant material that has been planted in the ground. Container plantings are NOT covered.
At Bower & Branch, we do our best to honor all guarantee fulfillment requests to ensure customer satisfaction. However, we reserve the right to refuse the request if the required guarantee steps were not satisfied. Bower & Branch also reserves the right to deny any guarantee fulfillment request that is made as a result of animal damage, problems with plant hardiness and zone issues, or acts of nature (snow storms, hurricanes, and similar).
Reach out to a Plant Whisperer with any questions:
- Email: plantwhisperers@bowerandbranch.com
- Phone: 866-873-3888
- Or via Online Chat
