Choosing conifer trees is a big deal. They’re expensive, permanent (hopefully) and they take up a lot of garden real estate. It’s no wonder new gardeners (and maybe not just new gardeners!) start to get nervous when making their choice. If not for this ongoing gardening education of mine, I would have never realized how many different sizes, colours and shapes of conifers there … [Read more...] about Choosing conifer trees
trees
River birch at winter’s end
Before buds burst out in leaf, look around your garden and consider if it has enough winter interest. We make our gardens in a cold climate, and having attractive plants in winter is crucial for gardeners waiting patiently for the arrival of spring. If you need more winter features, nurseries will soon be open and you can make some purchases for a better winter garden next … [Read more...] about River birch at winter’s end
My favourite, the fern-leaved beech tree
I collect trees, and that’s not a closet hobby, like collecting snuff boxes or tea cups. With trees, you’ve really got to have a place to put them, and still, it will be crowded. In the front garden, there is a river birch, four red River’s beech, a fern-leaved beech, a limber pine, a weeping crabapple, a magnolia (still young), two lilacs and a Japanese maple. You see what I … [Read more...] about My favourite, the fern-leaved beech tree
Behold the beautiful beech tree
Nothing outshines a beech tree in autumn, although it is an imposing tree in all seasons. The leaves glow orange and russet, like the dying embers of a bonfire, before drying to a warm, burnished tan. They hang on throughout winter, rustling in the wind, a good foil for the steely blues and muted greens of conifers. In spring, the long, tightly furled new foliage pushes off … [Read more...] about Behold the beautiful beech tree
Just say no to tree staking
Gardeners threw out their sticky cans of pruning paint after learning that sealing tree wounds with the paint increased the risk of insect and disease infestations, and the trees healed faster without it. When research showed that planting new trees in deep holes, backfilled with heavily enriched, amended soil actually hindered new roots from growing into the surrounding … [Read more...] about Just say no to tree staking
