Your Garden
WELLwhat can I talk about this week? …… Drought? How depressing!
I think you will find if you are lucky and have town water it is cheaper than replacing your garden plants so please keep giving them enough to keep them alive, a deep water once a week is usually more beneficial than a dribble each day.
Those of us who have to supply our own water, some big decisions to make depending on how much water we have left. In another month water requirements should have dropped considerably and so the pressure will ease.
On a cheerier note there are still lots of gardens looking great. I have had a couple of losses with this season’s plantings but most things are still alive.
This summer has really exemplified the need for more wind breaks and shade, it makes such a difference in hot dry times.
Wind breaks need to be tall enough to actually divert the wind and dense enough to block a big percentage.
Conifers are great on both counts and can be pruned if necessary to restrict height and width. If you don’t want conifers, then many other hedges and trees are useful but often a couple of layers are probably needed to achieve the purpose.
In a small garden, a tall hedge will suffice but in a large garden a greater height is necessary. Pleached hedges, trees trimmed to look like a hedge on stilts, are very useful and worth the trouble of training, because the width is quite narrow you can easily grow other plants underneath giving more scope in your planning.
Well pleached trees look very effective and look fabulous. Moptops and standardised trees will serve the same purpose although some are not tall enough.
The nursery in Glen Innes has a fabulous row of mature moptop Robinias which are not trimmed but are all joined up along the row. Hornbeams and Tilias are the traditional trees for pleaching and are worth the effort and the waiting time.
Grafted standards are now available in several varieties such as Prunus Elvins and Malus ionensis, for example, are great for privacy and western shade without getting too big.
Keeping wishing and hoping!
