Once you’ve learnt to hug a tree, why not give it a good wash too?
WASHING trees can help them sparkle in winter, according to the Royal Horticultural Society, which is giving its silver birches a seasonal polishing.
Gardens are often gloomy in the winter months as trees lose their leaves and bulbs hide below the ground, but the gardening charity has decided to give an insight into how it makes its properties sparkle all year round.
Curators at RHS Garden Rosemoor in Devon have been polishing silver birch trees to show off their shiny barks and remove unwanted moss.
Jonathan Webster, who runs the project, said: “During the darker days of winter we all need our gardens to shine bright to help lift our spirits. Trees with coloured bark are great at doing this. Capturing the light, the Himalayan birch with pure white ghostly trunks are a sight to behold against the dark winter landscape.
“We have given them a wash with a sponge and some soapy water. Without doing this their wow factor would be lost and nature would take over with a green layer that would cover them due to the Devon dampness and our lovely unpolluted air.”
Birches are not the only trees that can benefit. In West Deans Gardens in Chichester, Sussex, Tom Brown, the head gardener and tutor, treats his cherry trees to a good buffing.
He said: “With the family coming over at Christmas, it’s not just the silverware that needs a polish. You can dazzle the relatives by buffing birch trees to really impress. Birches and Tibetan cherries have a wonderfully bright bark, which shines brightly during the grey, winter months.
“To enhance this luminous quality, take a bucket of soapy water and a soft brush and gently remove the algae from the outer bark to reveal glossy, brightly coloured bark, which can be marvelled at from the warmth and comfort of your home.”
But other gardens are making the most of the colourful mosses that grow, with the Japanese Garden in Cowden, Clackmannanshire, making the most of its vibrant green hue.
Kate White, its head gardener, said: “Plant moss – while gardeners are usually trying to eradicate moss, in a Japanese garden we encourage it for its great structure and vibrant green. Winter is a great time to plant up new areas, moist enough for establishment, and low sun so that it isn’t scorched.”
The natural world can be a source of festive decorations which also help feed the birds, some gardeners have found. Sarah Carlton, a horticulturalist at St Andrews Botanic Garden in Fife, Scotland, hangs dropped apples studded with sunflower seeds on her trees.
She said: “Around the garden you can find clever ways of repurposing garden waste into dazzling decorations. Wind-fallen apples provide an extra food source for our rich bird diversity – use a decorative ribbon for these and you have an instant outdoor Christmas decoration.”
Pruning can also be an opportunity for making an inexpensive wreath. Ms Carlton said: “Utilise the wide variety of winter flowering, evergreen, and fruiting shrubs and trees in the garden for creating your own wreaths.
“Use what you have. Make these 100 per cent compostable by weaving willow and cornus stems into a ring, as an alternative base to the more traditional metal ones. They’re just as sturdy, use no air miles, and are free.”