Garden Centre

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Tamarisk: exotic shrub or tatty tree?

I have a real issue with tamarisk. It’s said that Abraham planted a tamarisk to invoke the name of God, which presumably means that it’s a tree that has biblical value, and you see lots of tamarisk in the Maghreb region, providing windbreaks for more tender crops on the lee side of the trees’ growth. The tree is known in America as the salt cedar and bees certainly love the tiny, pendant pink flowers but not only do tamarisk have such deep roots that they suck water from all nearby plants, they are a horrible fire risk – their dry, fragile growth is a real invitation to wind-blown sparks or lightning strikes and when people drop cigarette ends in summer, tamarisk is likely to go up like a petrol soaked bonfire.

When we moved into this house there was a tamarisk in the back garden. I waited until my other half was safely away for the weekend and dug it up. It did actually take all weekend because when I say deep-rooted, I am not exaggerating – the neighbours probably thought I was digging a grave!

Anyway, the tamarisk was replaced by a viburnam, which is a better bet for winter colour and for allowing the rest of the garden to get some ground water too, but as I walked past a neighbour’s house this morning, I saw this … and wondered if I’d really done the right thing.

Labels: garden shrubs, tamarisk, viburnam

The All Seasons Gardener at 4:29 AM 2 Comments

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Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Holly heaven

Apparently it hasn’t been a good year for holly, which means that I must be in a tiny minority. My three hollies have flourished like mad! There are a lot of reasons to grow holly – security, superstition and sustainability.

Holly, in folklore, protects the home from evil spells because the red berries, like those of hawthorn or the mountain ash, ward off malign spirits. A nice strong holly also wards off burglars if grown under windows! In early Christian belief, spiny leaves were a symbol of the Crown of Thorns and the red berries represented of the blood of Christ.

A holly will grow in almost any soil, provided it is not too wet, but makes large growth in rich, sandy or gravelly loam with good drainage, and a moderate amount of moisture at the roots. It is rarely checked, by even the most severe winters, once established. You can raise it from seeds, but you need to know that they don’t germinate until the second year, hence the berries are generally buried in a tray of earth for a year before being sown in pots. The young plants are transplanted when about a foot tall in autumn.

Because holly exhausts the soil around it to a greater extent than most deciduous trees, it’s a good idea to manure well in the spring before transplanting holly – and remember that a minimum of two years will be needed for the plant to recover the check given by transplanting. While birds seem to enjoy the berries, they are poisonous to humans. Deer will eat the leaves in winter, and sheep thrive on them.

Labels: evergreen plants, garden shrubs, winter colour, winter interest

The All Seasons Gardener at 9:14 AM 0 Comments

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