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Winter 2004/5 Why is it that winter seems to go on forever? Another of the eternal questions, I suppose. The darker days and nights are receding a little now. It's noticeably lighter in the mornings and definitely better driving home in the evenings so Spring must be just around the corner. Well, let's not be too optimistic. I've known some of our severest weather to come in February and March. It was, of course, pretty wet during January and here in the Lakes we had some pretty bad flooding. Since then it's been quite dry and settled and it has enabled a bit of outside work to commence. Preparing the vegetable plot for early spring sowings has been of prime importance and the odd bit of weeding and tidying around the garden can prove quite relaxing on a mild and sunny afternoon in early February. The stormy weather has taken its toll of trees and the private gardener has suffered just as much as the large estates. It is reckoned that at least a million trees have been destroyed across Cumbria. To us, this is 'deja-vu'. The great storm of 1987 (remember Michael Fish?) caused similar havoc across the southern counties when we lived in Essex and I didn't expect to experience the same nightmare again. It has to be said though, that many of the trees blown over were old, weak or diseased and perhaps this is Natures way of having a bit of a clear out. We lost the old oak growing in the middle of our field. She'd been listing at 30 degrees or more for goodness knows how many years and was obviously past her sell by date! We'll have plenty of logs for burning for a long time to come but this has presented a good opportunity for many estate owners and private gardeners to plant some new stock for future generations to enjoy. Provided the weather is reasonable, now is the time to get planting. The soil needs to be moist without being claggy and easily dug and broken down into a fine tilth. The hole needs to be dug out wider and deeper than the root ball and then back-filled as necessary to accommodate the roots; some compost or peat can be incorporated at this stage. It is important to work some fine soil around the roots and to tread it in lightly but firmly. The tree should also be given the benefit of a strong stake hammered well into the sub-soil and then secured with a good quality tie. Finally, a top-dressing of a general fertiliser should be applied. Silver Birch are amongst the most popular which we grow, closely followed by Rowan and Cherry and are all suitable for the average garden. Many other species which would normally be associated with bigger gardens or for more open areas can be grown quite comfortably in the suburban garden. The small leaved lime, Tillia cordata makes a lovely shaped tree and can be kept pruned back almost to the trunk when it reaches a reasonable size; Sorbus aria, the common whitebeam and a relative of the rowan makes a handsome tree with its silvery grey/green leaves and bright red berries. Acer platanoides, the Norway maple is another favourite with its broad familiar-shaped leaves which turn from yellow to gold and perhaps red in the Autumn and Malus sylvestris - crab apple - makes a lovely ornamental tree. The English Oak, Quercus robur requires no further description but the American Red Oak, Quercus rubra with its longer leaves which turn through all the shades of orange to blood red and crimson in the Autumn makes a spectacular specimen. There are, of course, countless others available and their more 'domestic' cultivars, although these tend to be more expensive to buy. I've always felt, though, that every garden needs a tree, if only a small one and whenever in the course of my work I have to cut a tree down, I always feel the need to plant two somewhere as a matter of urgency to compensate! The stormy weather has certainly thinned out the tree population in the north-west but it's given us all a jolly good reason to get planting some new ones! December 2004 You can read previous months Topics:
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