Fraxinus excelsior Heterophylla Pendula - Ash, European Ash, Common Ash

The Fraxinus excelsior ‘Heterophylla Pendula’ or weeping ash tree is a small tree, typically as wide as it is tall, with flexible branches that bend almost to the ground. With moderate growth, its graphic silhouette deserves to be planted in isolation or within a massif composed of low plants. A rarity among ashes, its vegetation consists of simple leaves, entire, and not composed of leaflets like most other varieties. While its flowering is too insignificant to be ornamental, it turns beautiful yellow hues in autumn before the leaves fall. A compact tree, easy to cultivate, well suited for small gardens.

The Ash tree belongs to the Oleaceae family, like the Olive tree (Olea) which gave it its name, and several ornamental genera, such as Jasmines, Forsythias, or even the Osmanthus so refined. Ash trees, of which around sixty-five species have been identified, are recognized with a few exceptions, including this variety, by their odd-pinnate leaves (composed of an odd number of leaflets due to the terminal leaflet), generally opposite or sometimes grouped in threes. Fraxinus excelsior is the common ash tree of our European forests, also found near lakes and rivers. Growing rapidly, it is a large tree that can exceed 30 m in height. Its vegetation consists of leaves composed of 7 to 13 leaflets, measuring 20 to 40 cm in length, and it produces a very discreet greenish-yellow flowering before leafing out.
The Fraxinus excelsior ‘Heterophylla Pendula’ is quite different from the botanical species in more than one way. With moderate growth, slower than the type, it eventually forms a small tree of 5 to a maximum of 6 m in height, with a comparable spread, easily recognizable by its weeping habit. Its somewhat disorderly branching spreads in all directions, more or less horizontally or even reaching skyward, but the long flexible branches arch and descend very low, practically to the ground. The dome of vegetation thus formed is particularly graphic and aesthetic. The year's shoots are a beautiful bright green, contrasting with the characteristic black buds of the species. At maturity, the shoots turn a grey colour, like the trunk's bark. Curiously, in this variety, the leaf blades are entire instead of being composed of leaflets (the 'Diversifolia' cultivar also has simple or compound leaves, but with only 3 leaflets). Their shape and size vary somewhat, hence the term heterophylla. With a beautiful bright green colour and prominent veins, the leaves have an irregular, more or less deep, toothed margin, sometimes forming small rounded lobes in places. In autumn, the foliage turns a decorative yellow before falling to the ground. However, the flowering is too insignificant to be ornamental. It appears very early, in April, in the form of small greenish-yellow flowers, which later produce equally unattractive fruits known as samaras.

Easy to grow in most fresh, well-drained soils, tolerant of strong frost and wind, not very sensitive to snow melting salt, this ‘Heterophylla Pendula’ Ash tree is particularly suitable for our small urban gardens. Plant it in isolation on a lawn to enjoy its characteristic silhouette, or even integrate it into a massif of diverse plants. In this case, surround it with low plants to not hinder its development and allow it to display its attractive habit. Under its protective shade, you can plant a carpet of Pachysandra terminalis 'Variegata', a persistent ground cover with dark green foliage delicately edged in white. The European Spindle, or Euonymus europaeus, with its somewhat wild appearance, also pairs well with your Ash tree and creates a superb colourful contrast when its foliage turns purple and red in autumn. Moreover, it produces very decorative pink and orange fruits (but be careful, they are also toxic). And to add winter colours to your scene, adopt the Cornus stolonifera 'Flaviramea', a Dogwood with very decorative yellow wood that you can plant in front of your Ash tree without hindering it, as this shrub does not exceed 2 m in height and benefits from being pruned short each year to promote the growth of bright young shoots.