They were planted as part of a community initiative to restore an area of open space in the centre of the village that had once been allotments and had become overgrown with nettles and brambles.   Villagers had spent many hours in the autumn clearing and now were planting some new trees.

All the trees were donated by someone living in the village or who had strong connections with the village and they came along to help with the planting.

Our landscaping department delivered the trees, dug the holes and erected the staking once the planting was complete.

The YouTube slide show of the planting is provided thanks to David Bland.

Watering Trees and Hedges

It takes between 12 and 24 months for a tree or shrub to develop a root system deep enough to draw its own water. And for this reason we need to help newly planted trees through any dry spells with a good watering two to three times a week.  In April and May this year we have had precious little rain and would suggest putting 2 gallons/10L of water on newly planted standard trees and 2 gallons/ 10L per meter of hedge, every 3 days.

It is almost impossible to overwater in weather such as this but common sense will tell you that you do not want newly planted trees sat in pools of surface water.

Weed control

The other vitally important thing do to in order to aid newly planted trees, whether we have had a dry spell or not,is to keep 1 meter free from grass and weeds at the base of the tree. This can be done using a herbicide, or an effective barrier covered with mulch. This must be kept for at least the first 2 years after planting. The reason this is so important is that any grass or weeds that grow around the tree will compete for water and nutrients resulting in the same problems you get when the tree is not watered at all.  Cutting the grass will not be sufficient as grass is an efficient water pump which takes up more water when it re-grows.

The rootballing of trees is a technique used to successfully transplant large trees it is generally used for trees 12 to 14 cm girth and above, (though difficult to transplant species such as Beech (Fagus sylvatica)  will need rootballing at a smaller size.)

Unlike bare root trees which have no soil on the roots, the soil around roots of the tree is retained and held in place with a tied hessian sheet and supported by an annealed wire cage.

It is important that when planting rootballed trees the hessian and the wire cage is left on the rootball and it will rot down in the ground

There are lots of different cultivars of  Liquidambar, but in my opinion for both autumn colour and form Worplesdon is the best.  A winner of  the RHS AGM (Award of Garden Merit) in both 1987 and 2002 it is fast becoming a favourite with both staff and visitors to our nursery.

The tree grows in an almost pyramidal habit and is  naturally very straight, unlike the more broad headed habit of the  natural form  Liquidambar Styraciflua, which can be tricky to train into a good shape.  The Worplesdon also has less corky  bark and a more cut leaf than the original.

The leaves which are of a  similar in shape to a  maple,  are  green in the spring and summer, before coming  into there own in the autumn.   It all starts in September when some of the leaves turn yellow and orange before falling.   As time goes on the outermost leaves start to turn purple and red giving a wonderful patchwork of colours.   Then in October for a  final spectacular display of colour only the outermost leaves remain offering a deep rich red display.

The only real draw back of this tree is it’s size as it will happily grow to 25 metres so does need a lot of room,  but if you have enough space it really has a stunning and long lasting autumn colour display.

As always comments and questions welcome.

Simon

Bare Root Trees

The end of October is an important time of year in the nursery calendar, as it the start of the Bare Root Season.

But what do we mean by this and why is it important?

A bare root plant is a plant that is sold with the roots exposed (though they will come wrapped in a bag) , rather than in soil or in a pot.  Plants sold bare root can only be dug up when they are dormant.  With deciduous trees and shrubs this is signaled by leaf fall.

The bare root season runs through until the end of March.   During this time we have a large range of trees and hedging plants available in this format.

Hedges make natural field boundaries for keeping sheep and cattle where you want them. Left unmanaged they become tall and leggy, more a line of trees with many gaps which aren’t stock proof.

Machine trimming works well for years if carefully done.  However many countryside hedges are literally ‘Flailed back’, which is a quick solution to maintenance, but exacerbates the gappy nature of the hedge.   Hedgelaying is the best way to regenerate a overgrown hedge as it removes dead wood and stimulates new growth.

Laying is a modified form of coppicing, where the upright stems of the hedge are partly cut through and laid down at an angle, these are called ‘Pleachers’.  There are many different local county styles, often based on the positioning of the stakes to hold the pleachers.  The object however is the same in all cases to create a living and stockproof barrier which will send out new growth from the stool and along the length of the pleacher.

This vivid engraving was made in 1945 by Stanley Anderson, RA (1884-1966), a Bristol-born artist and reminds us that this is the time of year to start hedgelaying.

Hedge laying can be very time consuming and if the hedge is very gappy and the remaining plants are far apart, it is easier to coppice the hedge to the ground, replant new hedging plants in the gaps, fence off against stock and let the regeneration begin from the bottom up.

If you want to try it yourseff, the best handbook is from BTCV and can be viewed online at

www.handbooks.btcv.org.uk/handbooks/index/book/6

As always comments are welcome

When you are out and about at the moment it is hard to miss the colours that trees are turning, everything from bright yellow to deep purple. Most of all I particularly like the brilliant reds that currently adorn many  of the acer varieties.

There is a huge selection of red maples to choose from and not all of them colour up as well as they might.  Red Maple (Acer Rubrum) is an example of this , as the name suggests it is the original red maple and a quick search of google images will find thousands of wonderful pictures of this trees. The sad fact is that most these images are from the USA and Canada, our mundane summers and mild autumns Just aren’t good enough to get this wonderful tree performing on this side of the pond.

If you want a maple that is guaranteed to colour up well in the UK you would  do much better going for one of the hybrids between Red Maple (Acer Rubrum) and Silver Maple (Acer Saccharum.) Acer Freemanii Autumn Blaze is one of the best. Fast growing, with a wonderful broad head this hybrid is guaranteed to colour up well every year and its vibrant  colour can be seen for miles around.  So much so that Prince Charles head gardener bought some for his new garden at Birkhall on the Balmoral Estate. Other good selections are Acer Freemanii Armstrong and Acer Freemanii Celebration.

As always coments are welcome.

Simon

There is nothing more satisfying than picking and eating your own home grown fruit straight from the tree.  It’s tempting to allow a heavy crop. This can result in smaller fruit and a risk of having little or no fruit at all every other year.

It is common to see a number of small fruits on the floor at this time of year. This is mainly because your fruit trees have their own way of dealing with excessive fruit by producing a hormone that results in self thinning. This is normal in apples, plums, pears, peaches and cherries and is known as the ‘June drop‘.

As a result remaining fruit gets more light and has space to grow. It also prevents excessive weight on the branches, which might cause them to break.

Wait until the natural June drop has occurred before deciding whether to perform any additional deliberate thinning.

When you do, start by removing what is known as the king fruit. This is found at the centre of the cluster and is recognizable by a characteristic misshape, the fruit developing with a thickening to one side of the stalk.

After removing this (where possible) aim to thin to a maximum of four fruits in a cluster of Cox for example, perhaps leaving only three for larger fruiting varieties such as Bramley.

At this time of year (aim to do this before mid July) fruits are easily dislodged with a flicking motion. Do not agonise over selection, just look to create space. Where stubborn fruits occur just leave these, choosing weaker neighbours in each cluster instead.

Apart from improving size and shape in this year’s crop, you should also find the act of thinning contributes to regular cropping year on year. Leaving fruits on the tree in the hope of a heavy crop this year could result in much lighter crop the following year (or even no fruit development at all).

Salix alba Britzensis, the scarlet willow, is one of the best large, upright willows with coloured bark. Despite its common name it is more orange than scarlet, the strong colour glows throughout winter, seeming to intensify as spring approaches.

Sometimes wrongly listed as Chermesina, which is a similar, though different clone of Salix alba, white willow,  Britzensis is a male variety raised from seed in the 1870s by Spath, a German nursery at Britz near Berlin, hence the name. Its showy catkins are large and yellow.

Like any willow grown for the ornamental quality of its bark, it should be hard-pruned each or every alternate spring to encourage brightly coloured new growth. Old trees can be rejuvenated by pollarding (being cut at 6 to 8ft or so above ground level), which will also stimulate the production of new coloured twigs.

Ultimately, when left to grow on it can make a 70ft tree with a conical shape, the high canopy of coloured twigs sway in the wind and look spectacular when seen lit-up by low angled winter sun against dark rain clouds.

Comments and questions are always welcome.

Simon

For many people the first sign that spring is on the way is the sight of the first blossom on trees.  Many wonder which tree it is that blossoms so early. It can often appear in hedgerows or scrubby corners and be confused with the native hedgerow shrub Blackthorn, Prunus spinosa.

It is in fact Prunus cerasifera, also known as the Cherry plum or Myrobalan  which is a species of plum native to central and Eastern Europe, southwest and central Asia, though the true wild species may be Prunus divaricata.

It is a large shrub or small tree reaching 6-15 m tall, with deciduous leaves 4-6 cm long. It is one of the first European trees to flower in spring, often starting in mid February; the flowers are white, 1.5-2 cm across, with five petals. The fruit is a drupe 2-3 cm in diameter and yellow or red colour; it is edible, and reaches maturity from early-July to mid-September.

The reason it is so common may be because it is a standard root stock for most fruiting plums.  When the top of a plum tree dies, sprouts arise from the root and take the place of the original tree.

The commonest cultivars have been selected for purple foliage and pink flowers and known generally as Purple leaved Plum, such as Prunus cerasifera ’Pissardii Nigra’, a handsome form with purple leaves and dark wine-red fruit. Introduced into France by Pissard, gardener to the Shah of Persia. It is a cultural form of Prunus cerasifera and is one of the best of all small purple-leaved trees.

As always comments and questions are always welcome.

Simon