Hello everyone,
I'm new to this site and I want to buy my Mum a Monkey Puzzle tree for her 50th birthday! She has been going on about wanting one for as long as I can remember but I don't know where I can get one, how much they cost or even how to maintain it!

Need help please!

On Saturday, April 13, 2013 10:10:37 AM UTC-7, AmyJane13 wrote:
Hello everyone,

I'm new to this site and I want to buy my Mum a Monkey Puzzle tree for

her 50th birthday! She has been going on about wanting one for as long

as I can remember but I don't know where I can get one, how much they

cost or even how to maintain it!



Need help please!

Gwacious! I never even *heard* of monkey puzzle tree until now. Most educational!

I went on-line and found umpty varieties, so better do that yourself and select which will best please your Honorable Mum. Since (I assume) it's not going to be a surprise gift, perhaps you could show her the pictures -- unless she already knows exactly which variety she wants.

Also, if there's a plant nursery near you they could help. A good nursery will order a plant for you if they don't stock it. Be sure to leave plenty of time.

Here's some planting instructions:

http://www.ehow.com/how_6721435_plant-monkey-tree.html

Good luck!

HB









--

AmyJane13

On 4/13/13 10:10 AM, AmyJane13 wrote:
Hello everyone,
I'm new to this site and I want to buy my Mum a Monkey Puzzle tree for
her 50th birthday! She has been going on about wanting one for as long
as I can remember but I don't know where I can get one, how much they
cost or even how to maintain it!

Need help please!

The monkey puzzle tree is Araucaria araucana, sometimes called A.
imbricata. It cas grow 90 feet (27.4 m) tall. It is hardy to about 32F
(0C). It needs good drainage.

DO NOT SIT UNDER A MATURE monkey puzzle tree. They form cones that can
weigh 15 pounds (almost 7 kg), which can suddenly drop.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean, see
http://www.rossde.com/garden/climate.html
Gardening diary at http://www.rossde.com/garden/diary

On 13/04/2013 18:10, AmyJane13 wrote:
Hello everyone,
I'm new to this site and I want to buy my Mum a Monkey Puzzle tree for
her 50th birthday! She has been going on about wanting one for as long
as I can remember but I don't know where I can get one, how much they
cost or even how to maintain it!

Need help please!

Most nurseries or garden centres would be able to get you one if they do
not stock it. The cost varies, but they are not cheap plants as they
are very slow at first. You can reckon on paying around £10 - 15 for a
plant less than 1 foot high, and maybe £40 - 60 for a 2 - 3 feet plant.
Above that they get very expensive; you would be hard pushed to find a
5 feet plant for less than £100 - more like £150 - 200. Look around for
one which has a straight trunk and regular growth, although if a bit
uneven at first they tend to grow straight as they get older.

The male and female plants grow as separate trees. But neither will
show flowers (cones) until late teenagers. Remember that these are big
trees, growing to 120 feet in the wild, and can easily reach half that
in a garden. Do not grow them close to a house or where the upper
branches reach over a pavement or path. If you look at pictures of
mature Monkey Puzzles you will see they are all "mushroom" shaped. That
is because they shed their older branches as they mature. A 12 feet
branch dropping from 25 feet can do a lot of damage! They need no
maintenance or pruning, and seem remarkably disease-free. Grow in full
sun. They do not like dry soil or waterlogged soil, but otherwise seem
happy enough even in clay soil, although it won't harm to dig a deep
hole and add some good compost when planting them.

Do get one if you have the space for it. As a specimen tree there is
nothing to beat them (except other members of the Araucariaceae,
perhaps, none of which are hardy enough in the UK, sadly).

--

Jeff

They establish better if planted into the ground when smaller, so although the wait is longer you'll have better success rate if you buy a small one. They grow in fairly high rainfall areas, so do need watering when small, but become quite resistant to drought when well established. A very experienced gardening friend has killed two now, so they can take a dislike to you.

On 17/04/2013 11:41, echinosum wrote:
'Jeff Layman[_2_ Wrote:
;980927']Most nurseries or garden centres would be able to get you one
if they do
not stock it. The cost varies, but they are not cheap plants as they
are very slow at first. You can reckon on paying around £10 - 15 for a

plant less than 1 foot high, and maybe £40 - 60 for a 2 - 3 feet plant.

Above that they get very expensive; you would be hard pushed to find a

5 feet plant for less than £100 - more like £150 - 200. Look around for

one which has a straight trunk and regular growth, although if a bit
uneven at first they tend to grow straight as they get older.
They establish better if planted into the ground when smaller, so
although the wait is longer you'll have better success rate if you buy a
small one. They grow in fairly high rainfall areas, so do need watering
when small, but become quite resistant to drought when well established.
A very experienced gardening friend has killed two now, so they can
take a dislike to you.

I've had one for about 15 years. Started off about 20 cm high in a 15
cm pot, and was transferred to a 45 cm pot a few years ago. Just before
we moved last September it was about 1.5 metres in height, and we were
looking forward to putting it the ground at the end of the lawn in out
new house. When I finally got round to doing it I noticed that the
growing point looked dead - no doubt the removal company had dropped
something on it. :-(((

We'll give it a year to see what happens. I've never seen an Araucaria
where the growing point was damaged. I assume it throws several
branches and eventually one becomes the new leader. But it just won't
look right, will it? So a replacement may be necessary.

--

Jeff