Ever considered parasol trees as a garden shade solution?
I hadn’t either, but after spotting Nigella Lawson’s beautiful setup in her recent Instagram post, I’m convinced it’s one of the best natural garden shade ideas. Nigella’s magical garden setup includes a fizz of pretty fairy lights, and together, they create the most whimsical garden seating area.
It’s had me wondering just how achievable parasol trees are to grow at home, and how long they actually take to reach the point that Nigella’s have – so I spoke to the experts to find out how we can achieve a similar look at home.
Get the look
Ollny
Ollny Fairy Lights Mains Powered, 40m
A 40-metre long string of warm-white fairy lights for cosy outdoor lighting.
Crab apple ‘Golden Hornet’
If you want to start training a mature tree, this popular crab apple is around two metres tall.
Berry 100 LED Outdoor String Lights
Berry-shaped lights offer a playful alternative to traditional fairylights.
Nigella’s outdoor seating setup takes garden lighting ideas to the next level, boasting a ceiling of twinkling fairylights. What really stands out for me, though, is the fact that the lights are hanging from a real-life tree canopy – not a parasol in the traditional, man-made sense.
You can spot three tree trunks in Nigella’s Instagram post, and the garden furniture set is positioned in the centre of the triangle. The branches have been trained in a canopy-like fashion, providing a dense cover above the table and chairs.
So, just how achievable are parasol trees?
‘For a longer-term solution, planting a small tree or multi-stem shrub is worth considering,’ says Julian Palphramand, head of plants at British Garden Centres. ‘While it takes a little patience, it will provide reliable natural shade and structure over time, and there are plenty of compact options available in garden centres suited to smaller spaces.’
It looks like Nigella’s have been part of her garden for a while, then, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start a parasol tree project now if you’ve got the patience for it. It’s all about knowing how and when to prune trees (typically, late winter), and dealing with the right branches.
‘To train trees to create canopy cover in your garden, you will need to form a durable framework that can take several years,’ says Richard Barker, horticultural expert and commercial director of LBS Horticulture.
Richard says you’ll need to establish a vertical leading stem, remove competitors, and gently tie young, flexible branches so that they’re facing outwards. That way, you’ll create a wider, flatter canopy. Plane trees, pear trees and crab apple trees are among the most popular species suited to training as parasol trees, and you can often find them pre-trained at garden centres – but if you want to buy a larger specimen for instant shade, this Indian bean tree from Gardening Express is ideal.
You’ll also need to select scaffold branches, which Richard advises leaving on the tree permanently to form the main canopy.
‘The lowest branches should offer enough clearance for someone to walk comfortably underneath,’ he says.
Nigella Lawson’s tree parasols might seem unachievable, but with some time, patience and pruning skills, you can get the look at home. Or, buy a mature tree as a standalone parasol!
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