Some local friends have given us two Japanese Maples, or Acers as they are now more commonly known. These were not the cute little yellow offerings in pots in the foyer of the local superstore (although they started that way). One had been dug up by our friend's husband and the other was dug out and greatly cut back by my husband who root pruned it in order to make it fit into a large container on our front patio.
For some weeks I felt it was touch and go. The root pruned bushier one with delicate leaves was the first to recover and now is beginning to form buds on its solid branches which in time will fill and spread. The second one, about three to four feet high, eventually responded and is now in leaf.
Watching these new trees outside our front window made me much more aware of the surrounding sycamores in the road leading to ours. These also have been hacked back, this time by the council, and yet here also the bright leaves are fanning out in the hedge, day by day.
We would not normally take such drastic action on our acers but it seems that we have saved two out of three of the originals and although they will have to remain in pots they will retain something of their natural form and grace.
Monday 29 April 2019
Monday 1 April 2019
Clematis Broughton Star
I tackled the clematis last week in response to a comment from my family. I hasten to add that the following is not set down for advice or emulation, but as an illustration of remodelling here at 'the avenue'.
When we arrived in autumn 2014 the clematis was sprawling over half the fence and had tangled itself among the hawthorn in our wildlife hedge. We cut it back quite drastically but it was still smothering a rather fragrant red rose and a small holly bush that also seemed to be propping it up. Last week I finally managed to cut away the dead bits and release the rose which my husband is now training against the fence.
This was a job best done when awake and alert. As I got tired I got careless and a couple of live stems suffered as I failed to trace opening buds back to what appeared to be woody and dead offshoots. I felt guilty and have fed the climber with a sprinkle of general purpose fertiliser in recompense. Please do not copy me, I am fairly sure that the gardening books will inform you that this was the not the best way to be going about things. However, cutting the dead bits back revealed that our clematis had not layered itself into the ground but came from an original site (close to the holly bush) and that on close inspection it was putting out buds from the thick and fibrous original stems.
Our greatest gaffe with climbers was some ten years ago when visiting friends in Cardiff. We volunteered to give a hand in the garden. Happily clipping away at some tendrils we managed to sever their phone line. Fortunately our friendship and the line were soon mended.
PS Since posting this I have read the May edition of the RHS magazine The Garden on pruning clematis montana the group to which Clematis Broughton Star belongs. The time to do this is after it has flowered. Its pink flowers are just beginning to open, so after that it will be time for a quick and minimal tidy and cutting back.
When we arrived in autumn 2014 the clematis was sprawling over half the fence and had tangled itself among the hawthorn in our wildlife hedge. We cut it back quite drastically but it was still smothering a rather fragrant red rose and a small holly bush that also seemed to be propping it up. Last week I finally managed to cut away the dead bits and release the rose which my husband is now training against the fence.
This was a job best done when awake and alert. As I got tired I got careless and a couple of live stems suffered as I failed to trace opening buds back to what appeared to be woody and dead offshoots. I felt guilty and have fed the climber with a sprinkle of general purpose fertiliser in recompense. Please do not copy me, I am fairly sure that the gardening books will inform you that this was the not the best way to be going about things. However, cutting the dead bits back revealed that our clematis had not layered itself into the ground but came from an original site (close to the holly bush) and that on close inspection it was putting out buds from the thick and fibrous original stems.
Our greatest gaffe with climbers was some ten years ago when visiting friends in Cardiff. We volunteered to give a hand in the garden. Happily clipping away at some tendrils we managed to sever their phone line. Fortunately our friendship and the line were soon mended.
PS Since posting this I have read the May edition of the RHS magazine The Garden on pruning clematis montana the group to which Clematis Broughton Star belongs. The time to do this is after it has flowered. Its pink flowers are just beginning to open, so after that it will be time for a quick and minimal tidy and cutting back.
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