Friday 11th September, 2015
Hi
I have always been keen on taking photos and in my younger day always carried a cannon camera which, of course back then, needed proper film in it. These days its all about digital and I have always liked using a digital SLR but since I carry my phone all the time it seems to be the camera of convenience. I think that it takes some pretty neat photos and the subject matter of late have been all the beautiful
Magnolias that we have either in the garden or flowering on the plants that we have for sale. The cameras on today's smart phones are so handy to zoom and crop and make for some stunning pics. Check
Facebook as there the pics of the Magnolias will look larger than if in this email.
I just can't help myself taking pics of the white ones. My phone is getting full of them and so will have to create an Album just for Magnolia Pics. My list of "must haves" would have to be
Denudata Alba,
Lennei Alba,
David Clulow and
Milky Way and finally
Gere which is very similar to Denudata but a tad later in its flowering.
It really not that hard, just a matter of training a plant as it grows. Everyone asks me about the cloud trees that we have outside the nursery gate which have a few years on them now. They have been shaped from the Hollywood Juniper or more correctly,
Juniper kaizuka chinensis. Now this conifer has quite a cool form without any one doing anything to it.
Left to its own devices it will throw these quite funky branches that seem to grow out from the trunk and then twist and curl upwards and as such, just lends itself to becoming a Dr Seuss tree. Don't think for a minute though that you are limited to these plants but rather many shrubs or conifers can be manicured into all manner of shapes.
When I started to shape the ones out on the roadside, I must confess that I just planted and left them for a year or two before I started to shape them into what they are today. In that space of time they had grown a few branches and so there was a decent amount of plant to work with.
I decided that I didn't want them starting from ground level so I removed any branches from the base and left branches from approx 30 cm upwards. I also knew that I wanted a triangle shape where the base is wider than the top so that they look balanced. To get started I removed the greenery along the lower stems leaving some along the way so that I had internal balls along the stem. My theory was that I could always remove it later if it didn't work.
The two important points that you must remember are...
Firstly: keep the growing point or tips growing until they have reached the length that you require. Once the branch is at the correct length then you tip the growing point and then that branch will start to bush as a result of being stopped.
The more that you tip or trim the resulting growth the bushier it will become and before you know it you will have balls at the end of your stems....
Secondly: you must keep a relative amount of foliage or green leaves on every branch or as part of the entire plant as these produce the food that will continue to grow your topiary.
Our Junipers on the roadside are now quite mature and need a good haircut to bring them back to what they should look like, maybe next week, but really all the maintenance they need now is a good trim about twice a year.
Camellia,
Buxus,
Bay or any plant that has been made into a standard is grown the same way except we only have one stem but the same rules apply. Keep the growing tip heading upwards until it reaches the height that you require and then tip it and keep trimming the resulting growths. Always keep a healthy balance of foliage in relation to the plants so that it can continue to produce food to grow. Simple Huh!
For the Foodies and Collecters
Curry plant,
This is a newbie to me....
Murraya koenigii, but its the plant leaves that you use in curries. Native to India and Ceylon I would imagine that its sensitive to frosts so plant in a warm sheltered spot or grow in a pot and keep out of our cooler winters. Its leaves, from what I have read, are used a little like we would use Bay leaves though usually in Indian style dishes.
Rhubarb in shades of green and red. Mum has always made this
Rhubarb pie and its pretty simple to make, Imagine that it would look pretty cool made with red stemmed Rhubarb.
Strawberry plants get these in now and you should still get Strawberries for Christmas Choose from
Camarosa and
Pajaro.
Passionfruit are in stock now as well, everyone's favourite. Every year I make jars of pulp and if the Aunty is out from Canada I send her back with a jar or two.
Tamarillos are here too, just make sure that you plant them in a sunny and out of the frost position both red and yellow varieties are available here now.
If you are into the
berries, like Tayberries, Boysenberries, Raspberries then check them all out here on the berry page.
There are a few Garden Rambles and events coming up in November... Put them in your gardening calender
Rotorua Festival of gardens Friday 13 November to Sunday 15 November
contact John Rainbow jtrainbow@xtra.co.nz
Fine Homes Tour
Friday 13th November 9.30 to 3.30pm
go to finehomestour.co.nz
Dio Day out
Sunday 8th November
contact diodayout@gmail.com
Hopefully all this wet weather will be out of the way by the weekend and it will be fine to get out in the garden.. I know that we have to get ours finished and up to scratch as spring is here already. Mind that its still too early and cool to plant those tender things, Labour Day is getting closer to being the right temps for Basil, tomatoes, chillies pepper and the like.
Have a good one
Cheers
Lloyd, Harry and the Wairere Team
Make it a Wairere weekend w
here even
GNOMES know that gardening's not a drag
