Re: Cotinus OK in Spain?
- Subject: Re: Cotinus OK in Spain?
- From: T* &* M* R*
- Date: Wed, 01 Aug 2001 09:02:20 +1200
Anthony Lyman-Dixon wrote:
>
> I live near Valencia in Eastern Spain
> > about 15 km inland on the brow of a little hill. The soil in my garden
> > is fairly poor, and we almost always have a breeze, or more.
> > I have a problem: some friends, when I moved in gave me a present, a 3
> > metre Cotinus Coryggia (I think) also known as Royal Purple.
>
> We grow it successfully here in the wet West of England, which must
> provide some clues. My suggestions are firstly the plants were too large
> to re-establish successfully (you don't say whether they were
> containerised or not) and they couldn't put out enough fresh roots to
> sustain themselves as the weather became progressively more summery and
> this problem would be compounded by being beside a wall (on the wet or
> dry side?) Also they seem to be woodland plants and would like some nice
> damp humus-rich soil.
Hi
I grow this Cotinus successfully in my own garden, having had it now
for about 13 years. It grows in the partial shade of my neighbour's
garage, which shields it from hot afternoon sun (and also from most of
our strong prevailing westerly wind). We get most of our rain over
winter, but its partly shaded site allows it to survive the drier summer
with only very occasional watering.
My reaction is that it sounds as if yours is simply not getting enough
water to sustain whatever roots it has. A generous deep watering and a
thick mulch over the root zone might help it to survive.
As to the possibilty of moving it as Anthony suggests, it is definitely
deciduous and like all such trees may safely be moved even bare rooted
during winter dormancy.
It is also from a genus which thrives in regular winter pruning, so I
would give it a good cut back (reducing its height by at least 1/3)
during dormancy. This will reduce the burden on the roots until they
build up again.
Don't be afraid of over-pruning. I have seen plants of this cultivar in
England used as accents in an herbaceous border and they had obviously
been cut almost to ground level to take advantage of a strong growth of
young shoots from the base.
Incidently, Anthony does mention giving similar plants he is growing
lots of fertilizer, but I would suggest this is only suitable for
healthy actively-growing young plants with the roots to absorb it.
Feeding a plant such as yours at present in its weakened state would
probably be the easiest way to kill it. In any case, while such feeding
as this may be necessary to keep plants growing strongly while in
containers, once plants are in the ground their needs are relatively
modest and my tree has grown regularly and almost too vigorously with no
feeding at all beyond an ocasional organic mulch (even in competition
with a neighbouring large quince tree)..
Moira
--
Tony & Moira Ryan <theryans@xtra.co.nz>
Wainuiomata, New Zealand, SW Pacific. 12 hours ahead of Greenwich Time
