The best time to plant a new tree is in the winter-spring window of opportunity when a bare rooted specimen is dormant, available to buy and most straightforward to plant (not being laden with foliage). Perhaps my favourite tree is the Weeping Copper beech, the Giant Redwood or the Tibetan Cherry. A Copper Beech has been long established at the front of the house by the drive, a Giant Redwood is not terribly practical, so the Tibetan Cherry was the obvious choice for an addition to the Pennine garden.
Consequently, a fine specimen was ordered from
Ashridge Nurseries. It was delivered yesterday, in immaculate packaging and condition. This nursery sells trees not based on their height (so no leaders have been artificially left to grow) but by girth of the trunk. Although the tree could be safely left for up to 10 days before planting, I took the opportunity to get the cherry into the ground while we had a break in the weather between the Atlantic storms.
Planting a tree is not complicated but there are selected
top tips
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do not plant too deeply, try to keep to the depth that the plant had been previously grown up to
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do make the planting hole sufficiently wide, never have roots curled around the edge of the hole
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do not use lots of improved soil matter or compost, otherwise the tree roots will not search for nutrients beyond the confines of its planting hole
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do ensure the trunk sits on a slightly mounded piece of earth to ensure after a good watering (with rain and not tap water) the tree does not sink down into a sump of poor drainage
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do stake low down the trunk, at 45 degrees and braced against the prevailing wind, and remember to tie the tree to the stake and not the stake to the tree
Finally, but certainly not least in the Pennine garden, think about what protection might be needed.
Most gardeners will get away with a proprietary spiral tree guard, or similar. But because of the constant threat of hungry deer, I enlisted the help of a good friend, who happens to be a gardener with an eye for practical design and engineering skills to match. He also has some pretty handy DIY gear too! So the young sapling now has what I hope will be an effective protection, fingers crossed!
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| The Tibetan Cherry |
The Tibetan Cherry or prunus serrula, is a small to medium-sized, so hopefully will sit well in our garden. It is mainly conspicuous because of its very decorative mahogany-coloured bark, which also leads to it being called Mahogany Barked Cherry. Because of its peeling bark it is also called Paperbark Cherry. It blooms in spring with small, white flowers and turns colour beautifully in autumn. It can be grown as a multi-stemmed but to remain in keeping with the cherry trees at the top back of the garden ,I intend to keep this one as a short stemmed tree with a wide crown. It will reach 8m possibly a little more in due course.
