Climate tree Speierling

Tree: The Speierling grows slowly to a stately size of a good 15 m and develops a large, rounded crown up to 12 m wide in the open. It forms several branched main roots that penetrate deep into the soil, making it well equipped to withstand drought in the upper soil area. In the right location, the tree can live for up to 150 years. The feathery foliage displays a magnificent orange-yellow to orange-red color in autumn.

Flowering and fruiting: The first flowers can be expected on trees that are around 15 years old. From the end of May, white, fragrant umbrella panicles open, from which small, reddish-yellow apple fruits ripen from September. They serve as valuable food for many birds and small mammals and are also suitable for human consumption; however, they taste very bitter due to the tannins they contain. This is precisely why they are a popular addition to cider: even small amounts of speierling juice make the drink much more durable and provide a special extra flavor. The fruit can also be mixed with apples, pears or quinces to make compote and jam.

Site requirements: The Speierling is very drought-resistant and prefers sites with low annual precipitation, a mild climate and calcareous, non-acidic soil. It needs a lot of light; an open space without shade from larger trees is therefore ideal. Here it develops into a magnificent solitary tree with an impressive long-distance effect.

Special tips: As it provides shelter and food for many animals, the Speierling is a great enrichment of high ecological value, especially for the natural garden. It is considered one of the rarest tree species in Germany, but in times of climate change it can now become a problem solver for gardens and forests. It is closely related to the mountain ash (Sorbus aucuparia) and the wild service tree (Sorbus torminalis).

In recent years, we have been increasingly confronted with extreme weather events, even in our latitudes: rising temperatures, prolonged dry spells, extreme precipitation or summer storms. And it is becoming increasingly apparent that some native tree species are not (or no longer) able to cope with this, so that the condition of forests is more threatening than ever. First and foremost, therefore, this is a problem for the forestry industry, but in domestic gardens, too, many trees are no longer healthy and stable.

It is now necessary to find alternatives, for the outdoors as well as for parks and gardens. The so-called "climate trees" are particularly robust tree species that cope better with the changed climatic conditions and, for example, tolerate heat and drought better than spruce, beech and co., or are less sensitive to storms and strongly fluctuating temperatures.

Not all of these species can do everything, so it is important to choose carefully which characteristics are particularly important for different locations. For example, climate trees for the home garden should not grow too tall (in forests, of course, it looks different), they should show ornamental aspects such as flowers or autumn color and also provide habitat for birds and insects.

We offer a number of such species in our assortment: some are new additions, others were already present and are newly presented as climate trees.