Tree trouble is solved
We’ve been busy! The lean-to greenhouse has now been emptied and cleaned. All the tomato pots have been washed and packed away until needed next year. As all of our vegetables are grown in pots and containers, the season is over for us for this year. We’ll use the greenhouse to overwinter more tender plants and seedlings in need of growing on.
Some years ago, when we decided veg growing on a large scale was not for us, we cleared the area and redesigned it with beds and borders of herbaceous perennials, shrubs and a single tree, Cedrus deodara, which was around 90cm (3ft) in height when we bought it.
It was planted individually as a specimen, with its weeping habit taking pride of place. After a few years this little beauty grew into a 12m (40ft) monster! Slowly, it began to deteriorate and, subsequently died.
We decided to reduce the height by half and cut back the side branches to produce a pyramid. We then allowed a bramble to scramble up, covering the whole structure. Unfortunately, after a few years, we began to have concerns over the structure, so the bramble had to go! The height was reduced by half again and the trunk that’s left is now a support for a beautiful climbing rose ‘Schoolgirl’. We’ve fitted a weather vane to the top. It’s now a lot easier to maintain.
Visiting birds are emptying our feeders almost as quickly as we can fill them, even though there’s still a plentiful supply of berries. The hawthorns have fed them well this year. Unusually for us, our first winter visitor was a brambling. We also have a beautiful cock bullfinch that has become a regular visitor.
Autumn held on before winter took a grip, but it was nice to see so many plants still in flower. We’ve had cirsiums and echinops, and dianthus bringing a dot of colour here and there. In a pot all on its own, a white begonia has thrived for months, flowering continuously. Perhaps no one has told it it has been grown as an annual! Then there are the plants that are supposed to flower at this time of year, the mahonia ‘Charity’ and sedums to name a few. The autumn leaf colour has been gorgeous this year – sorbus, amelanchier and parthenocissus, climbing on the back of the house, whose leaves are the size of tea plates.