On Mon, 9 Aug 2004 15:18:17 +0100, mikey mike wrote:

corylus avellana contorta - or so it says on the label !

we've had it since february, and it has grown one 'new' branch - but the new
branch it straight - what should we do, leave it or lop it ?


It's a sucker from the un-contorted rootstock. You want to get
rid of it.

How? Good question. If you cut the sucker off at soil level,
it'll just re-grow from below.

A method I've been told of but haven't tried: dig away the soil
to expose the point of origin of the sucker. Then *tear* the
sucker out/off. Then, as the wound gradually heals, every time
you see a tiny shoot starting to emerge, you rub it out. Rub,
rub, rub.

Question: do cuttings of hazel ever root? I have a Harry Lauder's
walking stick that is badly afflicted with rootstock suckers and
I'd like to get a plant on its own roots. Would I be wasting my
time dibbling contorted cuttings into the soil? Remember, I only
need one to root...

The fact that one sees old, neglected specimens of the contorted
hazel with no suckers indicates that it is possible to get them
on their own roots. Sadly, one of the most magnificent specimens
in Victoria was bulldozed out of existence several years ago when
the building it ornamented was converted from a casino (formerly
a restaurant) to a credit union. I gather that our architects are
not taught the value of established plants; lifted and balled, it
would have been worth a small fortune.

The restaurant as originally constructed had a very subtly laid
out Japanese-influenced garden around it; the big stones in it
obviously had been selected and sited with considerable care.
When it was converted to a casino, these all got shuffled around
and re-set higgledy piggledy, and stopped being worth looking at.

So much for horticultural sensitivity in "the city of gardens".

In both these instances, city hall stood by with its mouth gaping
open like a dimwit. Can't get in the way of someone trying to
make money, you know. Never mind the adverse effect on public
amenity values.

--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
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