Trees

I had a laburnum which grew two strong shoots from the base, I twined them around each other making a spiral.It looked good for about 20 years but I did some pruning a few years ago and it's let in some kind of fungus which has pretty much ruined the tree.

I was talking with an exhibitor at Royal Welsh show the other week who was promoting growing various trees for biomass. Amongst them was pawlonia! He had a sample plant to show farmers but didn't know how beautifully they flower. They were also suggesting robinia, eucalyptus (though the nasty...

Appears pretty good to me too ; very vigorous when established !

I think you can find on the internet the chemicals that are OK to use.

There are literally hundreds of shrubs of all sizes, like the ones I mentioned earlier, but what gets chose depends on the amount of room for them, and the time available for maintenance, and the climate and soil are also factors in the eventual size anything reaches. Ones which can be reliably...

More food for thought in this interesting article in today's Guardian, discussing whether we should be helping tree species to migrate northwards, to help mitigate the effects of climate change. It's something the trees have been doing for themselves anyway; humans can speed the process up, but...

Yes, my Ribston Pippin has done this for the past 2-3 years. It's so odd seeing fruit and flowers on at the same time. I'm wondering if it thinks it's a Lemon . Last year it even set clusters of fruit, but of course they all fell off by December. If it does it this year, I think I will rub...

Thanks both - this is reassuring!

I would wait until it’s dormant so late Autumn, winter. The usual rule of thumb for tress is that the roots are as wide as the canopy. Cherries are quite shallow rooting so some initial investigations with a trowel should help give you an idea. There will be some individual roots which extend...

Were wondering if we could plant one in a large pot, thank you. Husband actually bought one this afternoon. Thank you.

My Paper Bark Maple has been in the ground just short of a year, and it too is looking a little battered by the warm, dry windy weather we've just had. Paper Bark Maples are slow growers too (It might take 10yrs to double its current size!), so i'm not expecting very much new growth at all for...

Many are started off in pots/cells or trays though, and then planted out to grow on, but it's certainly a more sustainable method of growing. It also depends on the type of tree and where they're being produced. I've successfully grown hawthorn and rowan from seed, very quickly and easily, but...

Thanks @fairygirl Great information and perspective as usual.Yes, I am aware that S. Aucuparia is the native rowan. I just didn't know if that's the case for the specific cultivar that I have, which has apricot berries instead of the usual red / dark orange ones that can be seen in the wild...

I have used nematodes to good effect but @fairygirl is correct you need the timing and conditions to be right. The soil needs to be constantly damp and above 5 C , the nematodes effectively "swim" in the spaces between soil particles. Now is an excellent time to use them, the soil should be...

We probably moved it in July. It was doing OK until about a month ago. It has been watered regularly, but perhaps not enough.Thanks...

Thanks!

Thanks

It was only after several years that my fence-trained Ceanothus became anything like a self-supporting big shrub/small tree. Get it in the ground, against a sunny fence or wall. Either fix a sturdy stake to the support or loosely tie the stem to horizontal wires fixed to the support. Either way,...

I think digging into the turf will just create problems with root damage and therefore suckers. Maintaining a good, thick layer of light-excluding mulch will eventually kill off the turf anyway. An easy way to add nitrogen would be a handful of granular lawn food (definitely without added...

I am in the North East too and our Rowan tree is the same. Ours has fruited so early on that most of berries are spent or on the ground and we are beginning to lose leaves after they started " turning" really early. I used to enjoy watching the blackbirds eating the berries off the tree during...