Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

A spring afternoon of quiet contemplation, with a good book (about
Sissinghurst, as it happens), in the garden recalls the autumn decisions.

The two standard roses and the five bush roses were all I had to prune. Half
a day's pleasant work that reminded me of the far larger task that I
enjoyed, as a child, being part of as my mother pruned the ten beds of
around fifteen roses each. The pruning went on for a week with the gardener,
nDabula, following her to put dabs of paint on the cut ends to discourage
flies and beetles laying their eggs on the cut ends and the consequent
'dying back' of the stem.

A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.

As you examining the rose to prune it, looking at the last year's growth and
considering where it has been vigorous, where slow and how the shape has,
after the long summer, been to your design from last autumn's prune and how
far it has gone its own way - sometimes in a more satisfying direction than
you had imagined, you look for the buds to see what direction the next year
can take. I usually do one lax prune to get the general shape, then follow
through with a harsher one to define more exactly what I am looking for.

Sitting in the garden this afternoon, I was delighted to see the shapes of
the roses emerging as I had imagined them - not, of course exactly, there
are some shoots that have not emerged and others that have turned out far
more vigorous than I would have imagined from my survey of last year's
growth. The chicken manure put down a fortnight ago has produced a powerful
efflorescence though, there is one white rose out on one of the standards
already!

The garden is looking lovely. A small, hairy, caterpillar looked dead, but,
after I had settled made its busy hydraulic way over the lawn, pausing to
rest every six inches or so, a butterfly dipped through the lavender and a
small bird darted through the cypress, pecking at the buds for an afternoon
snack. The upward vigour of the roses suggests that a little espalier work
might improve the shape of the standards and cover the gnarled spot where
they have been grafted to the briar. On the other hand the dendritic form is
probably more satisfying on the eye - and less effort.

I look forward to the next couple of weeks when the dozens of buds at the
end of each new shoot produce massive bunches of roses, finally producing
just the shape intended.

It has been so exciting to be there when just the solitary rose provided the
vanguard, and the caterpillar gave promise of more butterflies - soon the
late afternoon cool will make the garden more inviting, not lead me,
reluctantly, to seek the warmth indoors.

--
Stranger, here you will do well to tarry; here our highest good is
pleasure.
The caretaker of that abode, a kindly host, will be ready for you;
He will welcome you with bread, and serve you water also in abundance,
with these words: "Have you not been well entertained?
This garden does not whet your appetite; but quenches it."
-Inscription at Epicurus' Garden.

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

In article ,
"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote:


I look forward to the next couple of weeks when the dozens of buds at the
end of each new shoot produce massive bunches of roses, finally producing
just the shape intended.

Well up here, now that autumn has emphatically arrived I need to put my
mind to the task of moving the rhododendron from its current cramped
position to a more spacious one. The roses have finished and now its
back to watching the orchids indoors for signs of flowering and stopping
myself from loving them to death.

Peter

--
Peter Ashby
School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Scotland
To assume that I speak for the University of Dundee is to be deluded.
Reverse the Spam and remove to email me.

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Peter Ashby" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote:


I look forward to the next couple of weeks when the dozens of buds at
the
end of each new shoot produce massive bunches of roses, finally
producing
just the shape intended.

Well up here, now that autumn has emphatically arrived I need to put my
mind to the task of moving the rhododendron from its current cramped
position to a more spacious one. The roses have finished and now its
back to watching the orchids indoors for signs of flowering and stopping
myself from loving them to death.

I hope that my piece might have enthused you to pruning the roses.

You could cut back the rhododendron.


--
The happiest people on earth are those few fortunates who seem to be in a
state of mild, stable hypomania. - David Horrobin 'The Madness of Adam and
Eve' (How schizophrenia shaped humanity)

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

Peter H.M. Brooks wrote:

"Peter Ashby" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote:


I look forward to the next couple of weeks when the dozens of buds at
the
end of each new shoot produce massive bunches of roses, finally
producing
just the shape intended.

Well up here, now that autumn has emphatically arrived I need to put my
mind to the task of moving the rhododendron from its current cramped
position to a more spacious one. The roses have finished and now its
back to watching the orchids indoors for signs of flowering and stopping
myself from loving them to death.

I hope that my piece might have enthused you to pruning the roses.


It was too dark and too cold when I got home to have a look at them. I
tend to leave as much on in the winter as possible to help protect them
from cold. I generally just deadhead after summer and prune at the start
of spring. Some of the flowers were a bit small and misshapen this
summer, i think they could do with a dressing of some appropriate
fertiliser.

You could cut back the rhododendron.

The problem is its rather stunted because a large Hebe next to it has
outcompeted it. Whoever planted the shrubs on that side of the garden
did it with no regard for final size. I removed the horrible small tree
on the other side of the Rohdodendron and it has responded on that size.
This is what has opened the space. I have rescued the Potentilla between
the Hebe and another large shrub by pruning out the lower branches of
the two larger ones to give the Potentilla some light and it has come
up nicely from a state of me wondering if it was still alive.

Peter

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote

A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.

Well they did some tests a few years ago were they properly pruned some
roses and took a hedge trimmer to others. Providing you cut at the right
height you get just as good blooms as if you prune properly.

But then it is ultimately more enjoyable doing it 'properly ' as you
describe and a sound reason for doing things 'the hard way'. I much prefer
to use hand tools to do woodwork for example. Much more enjoyable than using
some of these modern electric gadgets!

Steve M

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote

A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.

Well they did some tests a few years ago were they properly pruned some
roses and took a hedge trimmer to others. Providing you cut at the right
height you get just as good blooms as if you prune properly.

But then it is ultimately more enjoyable doing it 'properly ' as you
describe and a sound reason for doing things 'the hard way'. I much prefer
to use hand tools to do woodwork for example. Much more enjoyable than using
some of these modern electric gadgets!

Steve M

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote in message
...



A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.


Is that a metaphor for the growth of an organism under the guidance of its
genome?

Jim Purdie

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote in message
...



A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.


Is that a metaphor for the growth of an organism under the guidance of its
genome?

Jim Purdie

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote

A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.

Well they did some tests a few years ago were they properly pruned some
roses and took a hedge trimmer to others. Providing you cut at the right
height you get just as good blooms as if you prune properly.

But then it is ultimately more enjoyable doing it 'properly ' as you
describe and a sound reason for doing things 'the hard way'. I much prefer
to use hand tools to do woodwork for example. Much more enjoyable than using
some of these modern electric gadgets!

Steve M

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote in message
...



A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.


Is that a metaphor for the growth of an organism under the guidance of its
genome?

Jim Purdie

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Jim Purdie" wrote in message
...

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote in message
...



A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction
or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.


Is that a metaphor for the growth of an organism under the guidance of its
genome?

No, actually, it was all very simple stuff. Still, you can make of it what
you will, and I agree that it is pretty close to our own childhood, and
considering us the garden's of our parents is, I'd agree, a lovely
metaphor - I'll tell my father and he'll either love it, or puke.


--
The American President is a coward who was at the head of a venal and
corrupt administration. This really is a completely unsupportable government
and I look forward to it being overthrown as much as I looked forward to
Saddam Hussein being overthrown. - Ken Livingstone

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Steve Marshall" wrote in message
...

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote

A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction
or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.

Well they did some tests a few years ago were they properly pruned some
roses and took a hedge trimmer to others. Providing you cut at the right
height you get just as good blooms as if you prune properly.

But then it is ultimately more enjoyable doing it 'properly ' as you
describe and a sound reason for doing things 'the hard way'. I much prefer
to use hand tools to do woodwork for example. Much more enjoyable than
using
some of these modern electric gadgets!

I'm not really surprised by the result of that research. As I said, it is
the shape that matters, at least in a small garden, not just the bloom
count.


--
"Wherever tyranny has ruled, it has been with this insidious claim that the
status quo must not be questioned," - Bantu Holomisa

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Jim Purdie" wrote in message
...

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote in message
...



A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction
or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.


Is that a metaphor for the growth of an organism under the guidance of its
genome?

No, actually, it was all very simple stuff. Still, you can make of it what
you will, and I agree that it is pretty close to our own childhood, and
considering us the garden's of our parents is, I'd agree, a lovely
metaphor - I'll tell my father and he'll either love it, or puke.


--
The American President is a coward who was at the head of a venal and
corrupt administration. This really is a completely unsupportable government
and I look forward to it being overthrown as much as I looked forward to
Saddam Hussein being overthrown. - Ken Livingstone

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

"Steve Marshall" wrote in message
...

"Peter H.M. Brooks" wrote

A garden is an art. A place of artifice. None the less so as it also
appears
to have its own will, growing under the guidance, but not the direction
or
rule of the gardener. So it is with pruning.

Well they did some tests a few years ago were they properly pruned some
roses and took a hedge trimmer to others. Providing you cut at the right
height you get just as good blooms as if you prune properly.

But then it is ultimately more enjoyable doing it 'properly ' as you
describe and a sound reason for doing things 'the hard way'. I much prefer
to use hand tools to do woodwork for example. Much more enjoyable than
using
some of these modern electric gadgets!

I'm not really surprised by the result of that research. As I said, it is
the shape that matters, at least in a small garden, not just the bloom
count.


--
"Wherever tyranny has ruled, it has been with this insidious claim that the
status quo must not be questioned," - Bantu Holomisa

Spring afternoon, after pruning
 

In article ,
"Steve Marshall" wrote:

But then it is ultimately more enjoyable doing it 'properly ' as you
describe and a sound reason for doing things 'the hard way'. I much prefer
to use hand tools to do woodwork for example. Much more enjoyable than using
some of these modern electric gadgets!

Hear, hear! Which reminds me, the wife wants another spice rack. The
first one I obtained wood of the necessary thinness by hand ripping
stock from the face of a 2X4 (gives essentially quarter sawn) then
planing it flat and to thickness with my trusty No7. For a small spice
rack that is 2.5m of hand sawing in total. I have to admit to using a
power router to cut the dadoes but that is all.

Peter

--
Peter Ashby
School of Life Sciences, University of Dundee, Scotland
To assume that I speak for the University of Dundee is to be deluded.
Reverse the Spam and remove to email me.