Re: Araucaria
Tony wrote:
>Your post reminded me of the house I was brought up in, in Birmingham
>England in the 1930's. It was a road of quite large oldish houses, with
[Snip]
>puzzle tree in the small front yard, tucked into the narrow space, and
>almost overhanging the wall on our side.
>
>I would say that they are emphatically NOT a suitable tree for this kind
>of situation!! OK perhaps where they can have plenty of space around
>them so that people need not come in contact with that appallingly
>prickly foliage.
Being an ex-Midlander myself, childhood memories of immense, sultry,
dusty and threatening 'Monkey Puzzles' in tiny front gardens have
loomed vividly as this thread has unfolded. I could never understand
why the Edwardians were so fond of planting this species in such
eminently unsuitable situations.
We have one on our village green, just on the outskirts of Torquay
where it now has to compete with a canopy of mixed, native hardwood
species. It has a fair amount of room, does not cause any problems
with prickly 'throw-offs' and is really quite a handsome tree -
especially when it 'cones up' in early summer.
David Poole
