Clematis on a dead tree
 

Hi
I have a fifteen foot tall Horse Chestnut tree in my garden and it's
becoming too big for my garden. I fancy killing it and then growing
clematis over the dead body (I saw the same thing in Lawrence Sterne's
garden in Coxwold and adored it!) but would welcome suggestions from people.
For a start how would I go about killing the tree while retaining its shape?
Are there any issues I should be thinking about?
Thanks in advance!
Emmy

EmmaByson wrote:
Hi
I have a fifteen foot tall Horse Chestnut tree in my garden and
it's
becoming too big for my garden. I fancy killing it and then
growing
clematis over the dead body (I saw the same thing in Lawrence
Sterne's
garden in Coxwold and adored it!) but would welcome suggestions
from
people. For a start how would I go about killing the tree while
retaining its shape? Are there any issues I should be thinking
about?
Thanks in advance!
Emmy

The neatest way to kill it is to strip the bark all the way round the
trunk. I'd guess a foot-wide strip will do it. (I once tried to kill
a big sycamore by hammering copper nails into it, but it didn't
work -- maybe I was too stingy with the nails.)

It will eventually become a bit unsafe, but you can have fun with it
till then -- if you're sure you'll like the effect all the year
round. If you haven't seen the Shandy Hall example in the dead
season, it may be a good idea to go and look next month if you can.
And it will take a little time for your clematis (or rose/clematis,
or clematis/jasmine, or whatever combination) to cover it properly.

Mike.

EmmaByson wrote in message
...
Hi
I have a fifteen foot tall Horse Chestnut tree in my garden and it's
becoming too big for my garden. I fancy killing it and then growing
clematis over the dead body (I saw the same thing in Lawrence Sterne's
garden in Coxwold and adored it!) but would welcome suggestions from
people.
For a start how would I go about killing the tree while retaining its
shape?
Are there any issues I should be thinking about?
Thanks in advance!
Emmy



Hi Emmy,

Alas, Horse Chestnuts are notorious 'branch droppers' - and that's when
they're alive! (I offered a young, healthy tree to my local woodland
charity, but they wouldn't touch it for fear they'd be liable if a branch
fell on someone. I would be very worried about keeping a dead tree *and*
adding weight/windage to it.

If the tree is already too big for your garden, that's a good reason for
disposing of it.

Then replant with a smaller tree, like Malus, and plant clematis to flower
for the summer season. (The Malus will flower in Spring and fruit in
Autumn, so you'll have an attractive feature for three seasons).

Spider

"EmmaByson" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have a fifteen foot tall Horse Chestnut tree in my garden and it's
becoming too big for my garden. I fancy killing it and then growing
clematis over the dead body (I saw the same thing in Lawrence Sterne's
garden in Coxwold and adored it!) but would welcome suggestions from
people.
For a start how would I go about killing the tree while retaining its
shape?
Are there any issues I should be thinking about?
Thanks in advance!
Emmy

You could pollard the tree rather than kill it, use a hard prune type
clematis like a viticella or maybe a yellow tibetiana type then both jobs
cab be done at the same time each year, I do this with a sweet chestnut and
it works very well.

--
Charlie, gardening in Cornwall.
http://www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of National Plant Collection of Clematis viticella (cvs)

In article ,
Charlie Pridham wrote:
"EmmaByson" wrote in message
...
Hi
I have a fifteen foot tall Horse Chestnut tree in my garden and it's
becoming too big for my garden. I fancy killing it and then growing
clematis over the dead body ...

You could pollard the tree rather than kill it, use a hard prune type
clematis like a viticella or maybe a yellow tibetiana type then both jobs
cab be done at the same time each year, I do this with a sweet chestnut and
it works very well.

Pollarding a HORSE chestnut? Yes, I can see a true chestnut behaving
well, but surely the soft wood of the former would rot and the tree
collapse?

My suggestion would be to remove the branches at an appropriate
distance (aesthetically and for safety) and proceed as the original
poster said. Provided that it wouldn't do any major harm when it
falls over (as it will, eventually), that is fine.

It would also be possible to use either a single clematis, or a
combination of early- and late-flowering ones (say C. montana and
C. tangutica). The latter approach would be unprunable, of course.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.