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

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.

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

I also like Monkey Puzzles, but don't think of them as "unusual" any more, so many are seen in gardens these days.

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.

"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

"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:-)

"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

"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;-)

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.

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 .... (