The best of both worlds
Peter identifies plants that will give you fantastic fall colour as well as interest at other times of the year
THE garden was more colourful at the end of September and into October than at any other time of year. Summer bedding, especially the begonias, were still full of flower and roses had yet another flush of flowers to go with rich red, purple and yellow shades as deciduous shrubs and trees prepared to shed their leaves.
Foliage fall colour is of course transient and where possible trees and shrubs that are also ornamental at other times of year should be selected. Amelanchier is a fine example with young copper foliage to go with the white spring flowers, soft green through the summer and then red turning to black fruits that the birds soon strip.
Berberis, with orange flowers in spring and copper coloured leaves all summer, turn rich red before they fall. Similarly the Japanese cherries follow their massed blooms in spring with crimson leaves at this time.
When choosing shrubs for the garden there comes a time to make tough decisions and reduce or remove those that have out-grown the space available for them. We have a summer flowering tamarix, trained up on a single trunk to provide masses of rich pink flowers and then yellow feathery foliage just prior to fall. This is now just too large and covering a path, so it has to be dug-out, please note the emphasis on dug-out. Too often I see big shrubs and trees cut
“Amelanchier is a fine example”
off just above the ground leaving the stump impossible to remove.
Where at least 6ft of trunk is left in place, the leverage it offers makes the digging out so much easier. Digging around the base and sawing through roots as they are unearthed, soon weakens support and pulling on the top of the trunk exposes other points of anchorage to saw through.