Leigh Bramwell offers some ideas on how to mark an occasion with a tree
Whatever your reason for marking an occasion, Leigh Bramwell has some tips about what to plant
THE LANDSCAPER AND I are celebrating a couple of significant birthdays and some other milestones next month, which has started me thinking about memorial trees.
Not that you actually need a reason to plant trees, although International Cat Day in August would seem to be a good excuse, along with Waitangi Day, Matariki, Anzac Day and National Pet Day. My choice for Matariki this year is a tītoki, and maybe a pussy willow for National Pet Day.
(The Landscaper would argue cynically that it’s always National Pet Day here (it’s actually on April 11) but I’m still thinking about the perfect tree — something spreading and shady — to mark such an auspicious occasion.)
There’s something comforting about planting trees or shrubs to mark celebrations, anniversaries, births, deaths and whatever else is important to you, and this year we’ll be starting on April Fool’s Day to mark the birthday of our late friend and neighbour from whom we bought this property. He was a wonderful gardener and we already have many plants grown from cuttings he brought us. His ashes are scattered underneath a big totara at the bottom of his own impressive garden.
Marking an anniversary is not the time to go out on a limb and try to grow something spectacular and difficult. You’ll be very disappointed if it kicks the bucket after just a few weeks or months. Whatever you choose, make sure it’s suitable for your climate, soil and situation, reasonably resistant to pests and diseases, and, of course, appropriate to whatever it’s marking. A mad, frothy hibiscus with vibrant, multi-coloured blooms might not bring to mind your rather stern grandmother every time you walk past it.
Don’t allow yourself to be overcome by frugality. An unpretentious pittosporum might be easy on your pocket but it possibly won’t make the cut as a statement for someone or something who was important and influential in your life. For example, our black oriental cat is buried under a magnolia “Little Gem” — a big statement for a little cat but totally fitting for a feline with cattitude that could be described as delusions of grandeur. And when our stripey ginger boy meets his maker, which could be anytime soon if he continues to leave halfeaten pukeko on the terrace, he’ll get a gold/ apricot/pink/burnt orange Clarke’s Hybrid hibiscus. Yes, honestly. All those colours in one flower and one cat.
If you want to get really complicated, you could try choosing a variety that flowers around the time of the birthday of your cat, dog, pony, guinea pig or human. I have in mind a protea for The Landscaper’s birthday, because he likes showy flowers. Me, I’m up for a pussy willow.
ARBOR DAY
When I was at primary school in Dunedin we always marked Arbor Day. Of course we had no idea what it was actually about, but it was a break from classes and a chance to get outside, albeit usually in the freezing cold.
The cold was probably appropriate, since the day had its beginnings in Nebraska — far colder than Dunedin. As the pioneers began moving into the Nebraska Territory, the lack of trees was felt deeply.
Nebraska newspaper editor J Sterling Morton had an enthusiasm for trees and advocated strongly for individuals and civic groups to plant them. Once he became secretary of the Nebraska Territory, he further spread the word on the value of trees and on January 4, 1872, at a meeting of the State Board of Agriculture, he first proposed a tree planting holiday to be called “Arbor Day”.
Prizes were offered to counties and individuals for the largest number of properly planted trees, and it was estimated that more than a million trees were planted in Nebraska on the first Arbor Day.
And while Nebraska City is the official birthplace of the Arbor Day holiday, communities around the world have heeded the message and gather every year to celebrate trees.