Back again with another question..
There are some wild trees growning around here that have
about 2" long
thorns and leaves that look like maiden hair fern, my neighbor
told me that
it is a "Maiden Hair Fern Hathorn" I thought they were just
"trash" trees,
but this neighbor has one in his yard trimmed up like a Bonsai
tree.. very
nice looking, about 7' tall.. Question, I can only find trees
of this sort
that are about 3-7' tall, I can't remember if they are
evergreen or not.. I
am wondering how much of the trunk I can cut off to make it
into a real
Bonsai tree.. the trunk peels and the bark under it is rather a
dark pinkish
red/orange color.. very interesting.. it blooms small white
flowers in the
spring and bares small reddish orange berries in the fall..
Any help greatly appreciated, Oh, there is another type of tree
around here
that also has the throns, but the leaves are roundish and do
not look like
maiden hair fern. Same sort of white flowers, very sweet
smelling, nad the
red berries in the fall, the birds love both kinds...
There are more different kinds of hawthorns than there are fleas
on a stray mutt, and only about 4 people in the U.S. would claim
to be able to tell 75% of them apart. Besides, Hawthorns
crossbreed so easily you can find intermediate forms that look
like neither parent. MY far-from-expert guess is that there
really are about half fewer species of haws in North America than
most "authorities" claim. Most tree books brush off the haws as
"confusing" and list only a few species -- none of which will (of
course) be growing in your neighborhood. ;-)
At any rate, haws are members of the rose family and deal quite
well with being cut back. They should backbud readily. At this
time of year, I would NOT dig them, but you can prune in situ to
your heart's content then dig them next spring, early.
Have fun with them.
Jim Lewis -
- Tallahassee, FL - The phrase
'sustainable growth' is an oxymoron. - Stephen Viederman
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