Trees, Bark and Twigs.

I love trees, specially in winter when they are en deshabille and the wonderful tracery  of bare branches is outlined against  an evening sky.  I love watching the buds swell in early spring. I pick armfuls of  sticky buds from the horse chestnuts and watch them unfurl in water.

Aesculus hippocastanum

 

Magnolia buds  wrapped up in sage-green velvet grow plumper every day.

Magnolia ‘Star Wars’

I am lucky that there were mature trees when we came here but I wish I could have chosen them, because some of them are not suitable for smaller gardens. I  have a little copse at the bottom of the garden which I think planted itself. Field maples, oak and wild apple trees probably seeded themselves from the hedgerow.  Conkers for the two enormous horse chestnuts were probably brought from the churchyard by squirrels.  They are far too big for a garden but they are magnificent trees and each year I worry about the effects of horse chestnut leaf miner and  even worse, bleeding canker. There were only four cases of this in the UK in 2000 and now most of the trees in the country are affected to some extent. I don’t like the look of this one in particular.

Aesculus hippocastrum

Apples and pears were planted in the orchard many years ago, but the number of huge plum trees round the garden probably planted themselves. This one gave up the will to live in the storm we had recently.

Weeping willows with their invasive roots  are really only suitable for very large gardens. This one carelessly drops branches every winter and causes a great deal of work. I would never have planted it. Still, I do look forward to its first tinge of green buds in spring.

Salix babylonica

I love crab apple trees and the yellow Malus ‘Golden Hornet’ is pretty but if I had been consulted I would have said; ‘If you want yellow fruit, please plant the lovely Malus ‘Comtessa de Paris’ because her fruit hangs on until after Christmas instead of going brown on the tree. Or how about ‘Butterball’ which is always gorgeous and so heavily laden with fruit?’ But OK, ‘Golden Hornet’ has its moments.

Malus ‘Golden Hornet’

Readers of my blog will know that I dislike the huge cherry tree which dominates the view from the house and offends  me with its blowsy blossoms and its alarming habit of dropping branches even when it’s not windy. It’s probably picked up its bad habits from the weeping willow. I don’t know if the cherry is ‘Kansan’ or ‘Hokusai’, but whichever it is I don’t like it. I’m a cherry blossom snob. If only they had asked me I would have said: ‘Try the dainty Prunus ‘Pandora’ or ‘Pink Perfection’ or if you want a bigger tree, plant the gorgeous white ‘Shirotae’ or the double  Gean, Prunus avium ‘Plena’.

Anyway, now thanks to the intrepid and acrobatic George, the Pink Knicker Blossom tree has been chopped back and the trunk remains as a climbing frame  for Rosa ‘Blush Rambler’.

The greengage has been cut back too. I know that there is a risk of Silver Leaf disease when plum trees are chopped in winter but I have to take the risk because it was swaying so alarmingly in the recent storms and giving me sleepless nights as I feared for my shiny new greenhouse. (More about my winter play pen in another a post.)

So which trees am I grateful for? Acer drummondii has pale lemon variegated leaves and sitting under it on a hot summer’s day is like sitting in a ball of sunshine. Now the cherry tree has been chopped down I have an uninterrupted view of it from the house.

Acer platanoides ‘Drummondii’ in summer.

The weeping verruca birch tree Betula verrucosa ‘Pendula’ with its warty trunk is full of character and the long tailed tits enjoy it too.

Betula verrucosa ‘Pendula’

The walnut tree has lovely  fissured bark, but squirrels eat all the walnuts, every one.

Juglans regia

The Winter Garden.

I have planted quite a few trees and shrubs in this garden but the ones I am enjoying at the moment are the ones I chose for their beautiful bark or colourful twigs in winter.

I created the winter garden three years ago and now it is maturing nicely. Prunus serrula looks as if it has been polished. Behind it is the red stemmed dogwood; Cornus alba ‘Siberica’.

Prunus serrula

 

Acer griseum is a beautiful cinammon colour and has lovely peeling bark too.

Acer griseum

Birches are a particular favourite of mine. Last year I planted a group of snowy white Betula jacquemontii to add to the mature group at the bottom of the garden. In the winter garden Betula albo-sinensis ‘Pink Champagne’is maturing nicely.

Betula albo-sinensis ‘Pink Champagne’

This bark is pinkish but for really red you can’t beat the red Acer pennsylvanicum ‘Erythrocladum’.This is one of the snakes bark maples and very slow growing.

Acer pennsylvaticum ‘Erythrocladum

Nearby the bushy Acer palmatum ‘Sango kaku’  looks more showy.

Acer palmatum’Sango kaku’

You can’t beat dogwoods for coloured twigs. As well as Cornus alba ‘Siberica’ I have Cornus alba ‘Baton Rouge’ which I think is the best red.

My favourite dogwood at the moment is the orange Cornus sanguinea ‘Midwinter Fire’. It looks good with Hamamelis ‘Jelena’ and the chalky stems of the ghost bramble  Rubus thibetanus.

Cornus sericea ‘Flaviramea is a strong growing yellowish green. Here it is growing behind the evergreen Osmanthus heterophyllus ‘Goshiki’ which looks a bit holly- like’ only prettier.

Cornus sericea ‘kelseyi’ is much more compact and has finer branches.

Cornus sericea ‘Kelesyii’

Actually there is another dogwood on my wish list and I think it is the best yet. It is called ‘Anny’s Winter Orange’ and I shan’t rest until I have tracked it down.

I quite like eccentric twigs in winter. Bowles put the twisted hazel, Corylus avellana ‘Contorta’ in a special bed for strange plants which he called the lunatic asylum.

Coorylus avellana ‘Contorta’

I can sort of see what he means. I like it in winter but I am not so keen in summer when I think it looks diseased. I wonder what Bowles would have made out of the crazy, tangled brown stems of Muehlenbeckia astoni.

Muelenbeckia astoni

I am not too keen on conifers but Abies koreana is very elegant and when it is mature has lovely upright violet-purple cones like candles.

Abies koreana

Cryptomeria  japonica goes a lovely bronze colour in winter.

Cryptomeria japonica

I am pleased with how quickly my winter garden has developed. This is what it looked like in 2015.

And now in 2018 it looks established.