Height: 35'TX15'W Hardiness Zone: 5a Other Names: Common Hornbeam Description: A very rigid and shapely specimen tree, also makes a great allee or tall hedge tree to line a road or driveway; very densely branched, one of the very best trees for rigid landscape form, tends to be formally used in Europe Ornamental Features Columnar European Hornbeam is primarily valued in the landscape for its rigidly columnar form. It has forest green deciduous foliage. The pointy leaves turn yellow in fall. The smooth gray bark adds an interesting dimension to the landscape. Landscape Attributes Columnar European Hornbeam is a dense deciduous tree with a strong central leader and a narrowly upright and columnar growth habit. Its average texture blends into the landscape, but can be balanced by one or two finer or coarser trees or shrubs for an effective composition. This is a relatively low maintenance tree, and should not require much pruning, except when necessary, such as to remove dieback. It has no significant negative characteristics.