Little twigs, big trees!
Ruth explains the simple brilliance of bare root planting
WHEN thoughts turn to adding some plants to the garden, we generally think of spring and autumn, when the soil is damp and warming up or retaining heat from summer.
However, as long as the soil isn’t frozen or waterlogged you can increase your stocks of trees, shrubs, fruit canes and bushes and roses from late autumn through to late winter, just before trees start to green up again.
You do it by bare root planting, using young trees, shrubs etc that are lifted when they are dormant and replanted as soon as possible where you want them to grow. They don’t usually look anything special (they are called ‘whips’ thanks to their slender form) but once they break dormancy they will grow fast.
We have prior experience of this. A few years ago we replaced a monstrous, half-dead, 30ft (10m) high, 10ft (3m) deep Leylandii hedge with native bare root whips including field maple, hazel, spindle, Guelder rose, wild and dog rose.
Today the hedge makes a thick boundary, full of wildlife and packed with interest all season, from delicate pink dog rose flowers in spring through to rosy hips, berries and delicious hazelnuts and blackberries in autumn.
A bare root ‘Conference’ pear and ‘Jonagold’ apple that came from a wellknown German supermarket have also grown well and repaid our care with bountiful juicy fruits, as has a dwarf bare root cherry that flowers and fruits profusely in a large patio pot..
A significant advantage of bare root planting is that it is an economical way of buying trees and shrubs, especially if you need lots of them. You are also likely to have a greater variety to choose from than with container-bought plants.
Bare root plants are widely available online and you may also be able to buy them from your local market, nurseries or garden centres. Many suppliers sell plants in ‘bundles’ with mycorrhizal fungi (see P5) and instructions.
Online suppliers include Trees Please ( treesplease.co.uk, 01434 633 049), British Hardwood Tree Nursery ( britishhardwood.co.uk; 01673 818443), Paramount Plants ( paramountplants. co.uk, 020 8367 8809) and Ashridge Trees ( ashridgetrees.co.uk).