Fraxinus excelsior pendula
This weeping form of the common wild ash is created by grafting weeping branches on to the cut stem of a common ash, already cut to the height required. These days this is often done at a mean six feet producing a wretched little tree with broken branches at ground level. At least ours is a reasonable fifteen feet, but grafts have been successful at ninety feet producing a truly wondrous tree. The weeping branches are particularly steep and stiff looking compared with other weeping trees. They have been described in winter as “ramrods of wooden rain”. When grafted at a reasonable height they do produce a perfect natural bower.
Ours is half way there. They are common enough, particularly in church yards as they were popular with the Victorians. All these trees derive from one spot found in Wimpole, Cambridgeshire in 1750.