This is a great time of year to take stock on what’s worked in the garden over the season and where changes beckon. Decisions made and changes implemented this week will shape how the garden will look next year.
Rock garden conifer switcheroo
Better suited to this site – Juniperus x media ‘Old Gold’
Whilst I love where I’ve planted most of my rock garden conifers, one has been bothering me all summer. The Juniperus squamata ‘Holger’ filled this space above the huge base stone of the rock garden, but it never augmented it. It was too much of a full stop. An impulse buy at my local garden centre precipitated its removal.
Before – a lovely conifer but not looking quite right here.
This Juniperus x media ‘Old Gold’ took its place. I wish I could explain why it stood out at the garden centre but I can’t. Its label was so faded it was almost illegible and it had no price. It took a long time for the garden centre manager to be tracked down for a price which was a bargain £12.
I think I like it because it reminds me of the many shaped conifers I saw in Japan. Nothing there is left to its own devices. This plant bares the scars of many a past prune and then I had a go at it with my secateurs to thin it out and give it space between its branches. I understand that the japanese call this process the creation of ‘Ma’ – meaning a pause in time, an interval or emptiness in space. The plant just looks better somehow.
I also got the wire out to raise a floppy bough to a horizontal plane to create space between it and the branch below, which in turn was wired to raise it above the rock below. You just wrap the wire carefully around the branch and bend the wire to the desired position. Easy peasy.
Podocarpus nivalis ‘Kilworth Cream’
I wasted half an evening researching conifers this week, looking for a one that could work in semi shade. I skimmed over the pictures of the many Podocarpus varieties as none appealed to me. But when I went to my garden centre this Podpcarpus practically leapt out into my trolley. The arrangement of the little leaves is charming and it obviously wants to grow in a slightly lopsided spreading manner. I am a big fan of internet research but this is a good example of why getting out to a garden centre is a good idea, lockdown or not.
Being brutal to a Berberis
This gnarled old Berberis is at the top of the rock garden and is a favourite of mine. When it flowers it becomes a flaming bush, smothered in orange flowers – a burning buffet for bees. Sadly, this one had two huge dead branches in its centre and the other branches were so heavy I worried more would flop, break and die. I decided to have another go at ‘Ma’ here and give it a brutal pruning to try to create a loose cloud pruned tree. I read that it’s a bit late in the year to be doing this. You’d have to tell me that I’m condemning the plant to certain death to stop me once I get an idea in my head though. I sense that this is tough.
This tree has to work from three angles – from the path that runs alongside it, from the lawn below and from the base of the rock garden. The resulting tree looks better from all three angles and I can’t wait to see it in flower next spring. The eagle-eyed amongst you will spot the Juniperus squamata ‘Holger’, relocated to its base.
From the lawn below…
From the rock garden…
Cercis canadensis ‘Pink Pom Pom’
The bronzed leaves of the Cercis canadensis cling to the tree at this time of year, dangling like bronzed heart-shaped lockets. Despite some strong winds one night this week, a few just won’t let go. 
Table-top display
This bistro set has been moved to this spot by my back door so that it can serve as a stage for the containers of spring plants. These lavender coloured violets are acting as pathfinders for the many pots of spring flowers to follow. Here’s a picture of the waiting room of terracotta pots and pans filled with mini bulbs, each packed with endorphin inducing flower power. Happiness to come.
New Fruit – Loganberry canes
I hadn’t planned to buy these but the flavour of my late mother’s home-made loganberry jam tingled on my taste buds as I saw them in the garden centre. Forget the bulb planting – getting these in the ground is my first job this weekend.
This seasonal diary is part of a weekly link-up of garden bloggers from around the world, called Six on Saturday. For more information and links to other blogs crammed with gardening activity, check the blog of host The Propagator.
Very true about internet research and garden centres and there’s been many times where I’ve found something online and thought ‘perfect’ and then seen it in a garden centre and realised it’s not quite right. You’ve done a great job with the berberis shaping.
A mix and match approach is definitely the way to go with plant buying. I’ve had some great plants online and some lovely ones at my local garden centre. I couldn’t believe how quiet the GC was though. They said it was mobbed just after the lock down announcement because everyone thought they may be shut down but luckily they’re still open.
We have had an experience with berberis this past week, one similar in size and shape to yours as it happens. Mary was working close to the berberis on Saturday of last week, cutting down some phlox, and commented to me afterwards that her back had been prickled by the leaves of the berberis. When she came from the bath that evening, her skin all around her trunk was a raw red and this continued to become more inflamed with the appearance of a nettle rash and very extensive. After a very unpleasant night, and several cold showers, it had calmed down by morning but flared up far, far worse and we ended up going to a doctor at 3.30 in the morning. A course of anti-histamine and steroids brought it under control and it now seems to have passed.
Oh no, Paddy that sounds like a horrible experience for Mary. Knowing how prickly Berberis can be I did wear long sleeves, gloves and had my collar up. I was definitely in the midst of the branches and I came out with my hair all scarecrow-like. I’m glad Mary has recovered now.
Great pruning! I love the podocarpus, such a great plant. You must feel very satisfied with this weeks work!
I really am happy Gill. That’s why I love doing this blog – it’s easy to get despondent if you only do a handful of jobs each week but then you look back and see what great things you’ve done. Pruning definitely was my highlight!
Loganberries seem to be huge fruits ! I never grew them. Probably like raspberries.
You did a great job with this pruning !
No loganberries in France Fred? They’re a hybrid of raspberries and blackberries and do indeed have very large fruits. I wish I could describe the taste as they are different to raspberries. Maybe I could send you a mini pot of jam next year if I get some good fruit!
Frederic
I’ve never seen it in a garden centre so far. But they are sold online, you’re right.
Are tayberries the same? I googled and found that a tayberry is a cross btw a raspberry and a blackberry too. Maybe the same
Now I’m confused – we also have Tayberries but I think they taste a bit more raspberry-like whereas Loganberries have a different flavour – definitely more towards blackberry. I must read up on this now…
You are so right about the benefits of getting to a garden centre instead of relying on online sites. I’ve had to buy the majority of plants this year online, and in terms of quality and size I’ve been disappointed. There’s such a benefit in being able to see it in real life, and choose to buy or move on to something else.
I have two old Berberis in the front and back gardens that are in desperate need of pruning. I’m not sure that I’m brave enough to tackle ‘Ma’, but your result is impressive.
I used to be a very timid pruner. I was so scared of killing things. That’s all changed now – for some reason I go for the death or glory approach although I think I just have more confidence about how robust most plants are. This year I got many mail-order plants. Most were from specialist independent nurseries and were really excellent quality. I just think that the pictures can’t always show what you’re going to get and it’s very difficult to visualise the size of things. I’m very happy with a mix and match approach.
I very nearly bought Podocarpus ‘Kilworth Cream’ a couple of days ago. I saw it at Kilworth Conifers on a buying trip for the nursery many years ago and Derek Spicer wouldn’t let me have any because he was still building up his stock. I badgered him and he let me have one on condition I didn’t propagate it. I grew it in a pot for years, lovely thing. We did eventually add it to the nursery catalogue. It always seemed to me to have potential as an alternative to box for hedging. I grew some of the other Podocarpus forms but they’re mostly shades of brown, the novelty of which soon wears thin.
Hi Jim, I think you’re right about the Kilworth Cream as an alternative to box hedging. It’s got a very dense network of branches. I’m very taken with it.
I love your Japanese style pruning. The berberis has some really interesting shapes within its branches and your new rock garden conifer looks perfect. I haven’t had a loganberry since the ones my dad grew when I was a child. You should get a good crop from all those canes.
Hi Hortus, I planted the canes today and one had four canes off one plant. There may just be enough for a first pot of jam next summer…