Re: Fw: Purple, Black, Lime Green & Grey Leaved Plants mixed withorange flowers & berries

Reid Family wrote:
> Linda, It sounds as if you have a good start on some combinations,
> there. I'm not sure why you want 5 gallons, just because it is by
> your front door. Within 1 year, or two at most, the 1 gallon plants
> will be just as large, will have required less effort to put in, and
> will have a better root system that is more thoroughly integrated
> into the soil you have present. Not to mention the cost savings...
> The only time I ever buy 5 gallons is if it is a tree, or is simply
> unavailable in a 1 gallon.
>
Karrie
I would like to second your advice to Linda on buying the smaller sizes of trees rather than going for the biggest around.

In my experience the big specimens have often suffered a good deal from root restriction by being in a container so long and moreover those roots have acquired the bad habit of growing round in circles instead of spreading steadily outwards and downwards as nature intended. I vividly remember a Carmine Cherry which had been planted in a garden I once tended and whose growth simply stood still for a couple of years after planting until I dug it up in the winter and found it had scarcely managed to spread out at all, as the roots were all twisted into one sad little ball beneath it.

Well, I disentangled what I could and cut most of the roots quite short so the cut ends were pointing outwards, and then replanted it.

The result was splendid. Even after a few months from the following spring the growth was most encouraging and by the end of the season the tree was firm in the ground, indicating how the roots had grown out and anchored it.

So much better to start with plants in which the roots have not yet learnt bad habits and let them become properly established. They will I can assure you soon catch up with the biggies and later surpass them in health and good looks.

And while I am writing I would like to commend Linda your choice of a purple Cotinus. I have had one for many years following seeing them on a summer visit to England and it has been beautiful and given me a lot of pleasure. The trick with these trees seems to be to give them a winter pruning each year to keep them young, vigorous and compact..

Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan,
Wainuiomata, North Island, NZ. Pictures of our garden at:-
http://mywebpages.comcast.net/cherie1/Garden/TonyandMoira/index.htm
NEW PICTURES AND DIAGRAMS ADDED 20/Feb/2005

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