|
Unusual trees for a new park
Nick Maclaren writes
In article , "Bob Hobden" writes: | | The Monkey Puzzle Tree is a favourite of mine too, Until this thread I thought I was the only urgler who liked them! |there is an excellent one | just near the Orangery at Kew but I'm not so sure one would be a good idea | in a public park these days, some little darling might prick themselves. | :-( Oh, GOOD! For sheer viciousness, our native barberry (Berberis vulgaris) takes a lot of beating. It has spectacular yellow flowers in spring, and equally spectacular, edible red berries in autumn. Its leaves are edible, too. Leeds have been planting Araucaria by the score :-) In amongst pampas grass which is probably more vicious. | I'll put it to the Council though with most of your other suggestions. Taxodium distichum is also good, Swamp cypress? Got one of those I grew from seed - very pretty at this age. Wish it would grow 'knees' but I don't think it will. as is Abies koreana (though a bit slow growing). But with cones when very young :-) -- Kay |
Unusual trees for a new park
In article , K writes: | | Leeds have been planting Araucaria by the score :-) | In amongst pampas grass which is probably more vicious. Much. Pampas grass is actually dangerous - not enough to get excited about, but enough to cause cuts that need surgery in an operating theatre. | | I'll put it to the Council though with most of your other suggestions. | | Taxodium distichum is also good, | | Swamp cypress? Got one of those I grew from seed - very pretty at this | age. Wish it would grow 'knees' but I don't think it will. Only when planted in a swamp. It doesn't need a swamp, but can handle one. | as is Abies koreana (though a bit | slow growing). | | But with cones when very young :-) From VERY young. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Unusual trees for a new park
Nick Maclaren writes
| | Taxodium distichum is also good, | | Swamp cypress? Got one of those I grew from seed - very pretty at this | age. Wish it would grow 'knees' but I don't think it will. Only when planted in a swamp. It's got knees in one of the botanic gardens in Lisbon. Much less swampy than my garden. Maybe there's hope yet ;-) -- Kay |
Quote:
If you do have them, please have several, not one. They are dioecious, and the pollen only travels a couple of hundred metres or so, so you are breaking their fundamental arboreal rights by keeping them in isolation. Also you can't sex them until they grow up, which takes decades, so you need a copse to be sure of having a mix of the sexes. The nuts, which are huge, are edible if cooked. Plant them reasonably spaced out. In 50 years, they will look daft unless they are at least 10m apart from each other. In the mean time, you can plant plenty of other smaller trees between them. In nature, they often grow in mixed forests with Nothofagus dombeyi. So there is a good reason to grow some N dombeyi along with them. The mixed forest of these two species on the upper slopes of Volcán Villarrica in Chile is a wonder to behold: the trees (of both species) are enormous (many with trunks a good 2m in diameter), far bigger than any seen in this country, and very many must be several centuries old. We are very lucky they got protected before they were logged. As they mature, there will no longer be any sharp bits lower down. You could put a livestock fence around them until they were established, though that would take some decades. |
Unusual trees for a new park
"Nick Maclaren" wrote | Taxodium distichum is also good, | | Swamp cypress? Got one of those I grew from seed - very pretty at this | age. Wish it would grow 'knees' but I don't think it will. Only when planted in a swamp. It doesn't need a swamp, but can handle one. The Council plan actually shows a boggy area so a Swamp Cypress would do nicely. They are also improving another local Park with walkways because it's always boggy with the slightest rain so it would be ideal at that site too. -- Regards Bob H 17mls W. of London.UK |
Unusual trees for a new park
"K" wrote in message ... Nick Maclaren writes In article , "Bob Hobden" writes: | | The Monkey Puzzle Tree is a favourite of mine too, Until this thread I thought I was the only urgler who liked them! |there is an excellent one | just near the Orangery at Kew but I'm not so sure one would be a good idea | in a public park these days, some little darling might prick themselves. | :-( Oh, GOOD! For sheer viciousness, our native barberry (Berberis vulgaris) takes a lot of beating. It has spectacular yellow flowers in spring, and equally spectacular, edible red berries in autumn. Its leaves are edible, too. Leeds have been planting Araucaria by the score :-) In amongst pampas grass which is probably more vicious. | I'll put it to the Council though with most of your other suggestions. Taxodium distichum is also good, Swamp cypress? Got one of those I grew from seed - very pretty at this age. Wish it would grow 'knees' but I don't think it will. as is Abies koreana (though a bit slow growing). But with cones when very young :-) -- Kay That's a cone when very young in my case, however after 10 years it now has four. Those Araucaria on the bit by the Armley gyratory are excellent . Planted very closely -perhaps that is supposed to limit the growth? Very Yob proof- I wonder if it is possible to do a hedge:-) |
Unusual trees for a new park
"Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" writes
"K" wrote in message ... Abies koreana That's a cone when very young in my case, however after 10 years it now has four. Mine's never had fewer than 4, but it has missed out a year now and again. It might be the dwarf form - it's spent most of its life fighting a Daboecia Those Araucaria on the bit by the Armley gyratory are excellent . Planted very closely -perhaps that is supposed to limit the growth? Very Yob proof- I wonder if it is possible to do a hedge:-) :-) Have you seen the nice Araucaria in Otley, on the main road out to the W, planted about 18in from the house? -- Kay |
Unusual trees for a new park
"K" wrote in message ... "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" writes "K" wrote in message ... Abies koreana That's a cone when very young in my case, however after 10 years it now has four. Mine's never had fewer than 4, but it has missed out a year now and again. It might be the dwarf form - it's spent most of its life fighting a Daboecia Those Araucaria on the bit by the Armley gyratory are excellent . Planted very closely -perhaps that is supposed to limit the growth? Very Yob proof- I wonder if it is possible to do a hedge:-) :-) Have you seen the nice Araucaria in Otley, on the main road out to the W, planted about 18in from the house? -- Kay It makes me smile each time I see it. Another few years and those lower branches might drop off and give them and their neighbours a clear view for the first time in many decades. It must be a very loved and protected tree:-) There is a smaller (growing fast) example somewhere in Yeadon just near the Park;-) |
Unusual trees for a new park
In article , K writes: | "Rupert (W.Yorkshire)" writes | | Abies koreana | | That's a cone when very young in my case, however after 10 years it now has | four. | | Mine's never had fewer than 4, but it has missed out a year now and | again. | It might be the dwarf form - it's spent most of its life fighting a | Daboecia Mine started within a few years - at under 2', and has continued ever since. It is now 15' or so. Regards, Nick Maclaren. |
Unusual trees for a new park
On 28 May, 18:56, "Bob Hobden" wrote:
Please feel free to comment about hardiness etc, add more suggestions, pick the list to pieces. :-) Just thought of the Parrotia persica (relative of the witch hazel). Reaches colour zenith in October in coppery and orange blaze. Passed 9m branches often spread horizontally so looks like an enormous brightly coloured umbrella. If only I had the room .... :o( |
| All times are GMT +1. The time now is 06:59 PM. |
Powered by vBulletin® Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
GardenBanter