Pruning trees

Photo: The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest needs to be supported by steel poles to stop nature taking its course.

MAJOR TREE PRUNING

Our driveway is disappearing very quickly under a thick layer of leaves. We have a few trees that give a glorious show of colour…nature’s fireworks, with their bright foliage. Other trees, like the array of conifers we have as a windbreak, like most evergreens drop their dead needles onto the driveway all year round as soon as the wind blows.

Just because deciduous trees are becoming dormant, that doesn’t mean that we should ignore them though, there are certain things we can be doing to ensure they stay healthy. Trees such as hazel and willows have their life expectancy shortened if they are not coppiced and most trees need their overgrown branches or dead bits cutting out.

Don’t go too far with this though. The Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is trussed up with steel poles, nature would have let bits drop off of the tree, but for the tourists sake they are being preserved. You used to be able to walk into the hollow trunk of the tree and hide, like Robin Hood was supposed to have done when the Sheriff of Nottingham was looking for him. You can’t go anywhere near the tourist attraction now for fear of damaging the roots, I wonder what it would be saying if it could talk…maybe that Robin Hood is a fictional character and if he was around it would have been 100 years before the acorn sprouted the famous tree…. We don’t have to be so precious with our trees though and need to get up close to see what needs doing.

PRUNING THE TREES


· Most deciduous trees are best pruned when dormant, in late autumn or winter. Pruning in early spring could cause trees to bleed sap as it is rising from the base.
Exceptions
· The exceptions to the 'deciduous tree' rule are maple, horse chestnut, birch, walnut and cherry trees which all bleed extensively, even towards the end of their dormant season, so prune these in mid-summer after new growth has matured, this slows down the bleeding and there is less chance of infection from the wound.

Conifers
· Conifers require little or no regular pruning except the removal of dead or diseased branches in late summer. Ours need cutting back purely because they are starting to block the view from the house


Caution
If you have trees that need chainsaw work or you need to get up high on a ladder, get a qualified and registered tree surgeon in, for your own safety and also for the long-term health of your tree.


PRUNING TIPS

Shaping young trees

· A feathered tree such as a sorbus has an upright trunk and a balanced pattern of horizontal branches running from top to bottom.
· Each year, check for shoots growing at odd angles, extra shoots growing from the top of the main trunk, or basal shoots (strong shoots coming from the base which deprive the tree of nutrients).
· All of these shoots need to be removed.
· Young standards like cherry trees are trained in the same way, but the lowest branches are cut off until a clear trunk has formed.
· In the first year remove the lowest third of the tree's branches, and shorten those in the middle third by half. Remove these latter branches in the following year.
· By the fifth year the trunk should be developed, so prune branches out from the tree's crown to produce an open pattern of branches.
· Some trees, especially those grafted onto special rootstocks, produce suckers, which are secondary shoots growing from the roots. As these may exhaust the tree, pull each one up while it's still small, after first exposing the point where it joins the root.

Ornamental trees

· Pollarding and coppicing are traditional techniques that are used for timber production, but they're also useful when pruning ornamentals which are grown for decorative bark or leaves. It can also be used for keeping trees trimmed to a fixed height.
· Coppicing involves pruning growth back to, or near, ground level in winter and is used for coloured willow and hazel varieties.
· The same trees respond to pollarding, which is a taller version of coppicing with growth cut back to a short trunk.
· Eucalyptus and lime are often pollarded every two to three years to maintain a compact size or smaller foliage. Remember to feed your tree after pruning to encourage plenty of new young growth.

Conifers

· Most standard conifers develop without the need for pruning, but you may need to prune out any damaged or distorted growth.
· This is best undertaken in autumn or winter. If a tree forms two stems, select the strongest, most upright shoot and cut out the competitor at its base.
· You should remove any plain green shoots that appear on variegated conifers, and any abnormally-shaped shoots on dwarf and prostrate conifers.
· Patches of dead or brown foliage need to be taken out and any gaps can be disguised by tying nearby shoots together so they grow across the pruned area.

Tree Preservation Orders

I am always shocked to learn that there are NO tree preservation orders given out in Inishowen. Never the less, if you are talking a big job on a mature tree, check with the council before commencing work.

WINTER PLANTING

Photo: Our pumpkins are primed and ready for the celebrations later this week, they just need hollowing out.

Our veggie patch is looking a bit battered at the moment. I got a bit of a shock today when I went out to see if there were any courgettes still coming on and found that all of the plants had just disappeared. Not disappeared as in stolen, but because we had a frost last week which caused them to die off. There were no courgettes but I did notice that our pumpkins were coming on nicely. We have had a couple of them already and they make a delicious addition to any meal, particularly curries. We fry them up in oil and add garlic and pepper….yum.

The pumpkins still in the veggie patch are going to be used for the Halloween celebrations. Shop bought pumpkins are not really grown for eating, they are grown for size to make a dramatic effect when they are carved. Ours are solid all the way through so it’ll take quite a bit of scooping to make room for the candle. We should get a few meals out of their innards though. The other difference is that they are yellow skinned, but in the spooky evening glow of Halloween I doubt anyone will notice.

Our leeks have perked up since they were transplanted into their own holes a few weeks ago. These are filling some of the bare spaces the spud crop has left since we dug them up. More areas are appearing late on in the season as things die down, this gives us an opportunity to plant something else. There are crops that can stay in the ground over the winter, such as broccoli, spinach, cabbages and brussel sprouts, but tender plants like the peas and beans are leaving bare patches. It’s not too late to plant green manures on your ground. These will help to keep the soil in place and also feed the ground ready for next year.

TYPES OF GREEN MANURE

The optimum times for planning are between September to November…. in other words…now…Here are the most common types that shouldn’t be too hard to get a hold of:

· Red or Crimson Clover – improves soil structure and nitrogen content. Smothers weeds.
· Mustard White Tilney – helps soil with moisture retention, structure and organic matter.
· Forage Rye – Good for heavy clay soils and suppresses weeds.
· Winter Field Bean – Fixes nitrogen in all soils. Flowers, then dig in the spring.
· Forage Pea – Up to 1 metre tall, fixes nitrogen in the soil for spring.


WHAT CAN WE PLANT NOW?

There are other crops that can be planted now. Some of the seedlings will need to be grown under horticultural fleece for protection or started off in a cloche to protect them from the frosts.

Overwintering or autumn varieties of Broad Beans can be put in now for harvesting in June and July. Try –

· The Sutton – A dwarf variety good for smaller and windy plots. Produces a small crop.
· Super Aquadulce – A tall variety that requires staking, produces a good long pod crop.
· Aquadulce Claudia – Early maturing with long pods and good crop.

Peas can also be grown overwinter for harvesting in May to June. Some choice varieties are:

· Feltham First – A quick growing variety with good crop of pods.
· Douce Provence – An organic sweet french variety with a good crop.
· Meteor – An early growing compact variety with very good crop.
· Pilot – A hardy fast to mature variety which gives a good crop.

Spring Onions can be sown all year round for a spring harvest. There are plenty of types to choose and will grow happily in containers.

· White Lisbon – Quick growing, crisp strong salad onions requires no thinning.
· Laser – Slim pickings from a tasty quick to mature variety.
· Winter White Bunching – A good bulb onion that overwinters well.
· Evergreen Hardy White – These are skinny onions and can handle severe winters.

ANYTHING ELSE?

There are other vegetables that will do well if planted now. Autumn Planting Onion Sets can fill a space and the Pak Choi if planted now could be harvested for Christmas. Garlic, mustard greens, winter lettuce, endives and winter spinach can all be grown too. Even winter variety radishes will be ready for eating in January.

Covering the ground in the veggie patch is a great way to conserve the nutrients and even put a bit back for next year. There is also the added benefit of suppressing the weeds that, as we all know only too well, don’t bother to stop growing over the winter….

BULB PLANTING

SPRING BULBS
I’ve been digging up some dahlias this week to store for next year. Dahlias store best in moist, cool areas with plenty of air moving around them. I lost a few last year because of the frost, so this year I am going to wrap them in newspaper and then put them in the shed. There are other things I could do such as cover them in sawdust or wood shavings, but the guinea pigs have got all of that for their bedding. Talking of bulbs….

Planting the bulbs now
If you want to fill your garden with colour next spring, plant bulbs from now until December, before the first frost. Daffodils, tulips, crocus, aconites, grape hyacinths and fritillarias are just some of the plants to choose from. The bulbs need to develop a root system to take up water and nutrients from the soil so the earlier they go into the ground the better.

In the Herbaceous borders
Planting bulbs in a herbaceous border will help to fill in gaps and provide colour and interest before perennials and shrubs begin to grow in early spring. Drifts of single species can be planted to blend in with the general planting scheme of the garden, or try mixing different varieties to create an even and striking effect of bright colour.

Best tool?
One of the best tools to use to plant your bulbs is a spade, after saying that, if you were to dig a separate hole for each bulb you will still be in the garden by the time they are in flower, there are quicker ways to get the bulbs into the ground. Pick an area where you want to plant the daffodils and did out a comma shape or something curvy, a straight line can look a bit regimental. When the shape has been dug out, stand with your back to the hole and throw the bulbs over your shoulder. If they haven’t ended up in next-door’s garden you should have the bulbs settled nicely in a naturalized manner like the bluebells at the Convent in Buncrana. The settled bulbs can then be covered over with soil.

Planting and buying tips
Most bulbs have a long dormant period, requiring little attention for much of the year. When buying bulbs check they're healthy and as fresh as possible, or you won’t get the glorious displays in spring.

Avoid any that are damaged, shrivelled or feel soft, and go for plump, firm bulbs. Aim to plant within a week or they’ll start to sprout. When possible, check that the plants have been obtained from reliable growers, rather than from stock that has been collected from the wild.

Try to keep the “pointy” end facing upwards as this is where the leaves and flowers come from. This isn’t really critical though as the bulbs have the ability to set themselves upright underneath the soil, plant them sideways if you are not sure…..

If the ground is wet work some sand or wood shavings around the bulbs as they mostly originate from dry soils and tend to rot if they sit in water for any length of time. Put bunches of bulbs of the same colour for maximum impact. If you are doing more than one patch let a few of the next batch of different colours mingle at the edges. The other option is to go for a mass of colour. Plant the bulbs in layers, the largest ones go in first then throw on some soil and then smaller bulbs can then be planted. Try to go for bulbs that flower at the same time so you aren’t left with yellowing leaves when the later flowers come out.





In the grass
If you fancy planting bulbs like crocus into the grass then dig up a sod and tuck the bulbs underneath and replace the sod. In spring they will come right through the grass and look as though they have always been there. The same can be done with daffodils but they will need to be planted a bit deeper. If they are too shallow rodents can munch away at the bulbs, the flowers tend to be smaller and if there is a heavy frost you can say goodbye to them altogether. As a general rule, plant bulbs two to three times their own depth and around two bulb widths apart.

Under the trees
Many spring-flowering bulbs are ideal for brightening up the base of trees before they come into full leaf. The soil beneath trees is moist and light, offering the perfect growing conditions for scillas, anemones, erythroniums and crocuses.

In pots
If you want a great patio display, try growing bulbs in pots. Keep it simple by planting a variety on its own or several of the same variety packed closely together for a bumper show. Several types can be planted together, but, like I mentioned earlier, it’s tricky to get the flowers to appear at the same time.

Feeding
After planting you can sprinkle a little bonemeal or other slow acting organic fertilizer over the area, this will help them establish in spring. While the plant food is in your hand it would be a good idea to give any other bulbs a feed if you can remember where they’re planted of course, which isn’t always as easy as it sounds to find them. Failing this you can wait until spring when the tips of the leaves start to push through the ground and then feed with a fast release nitrogen fertilizer, I have my comfrey juice already made up ready.

BTCV

MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR

I’m getting onto a bus with 11 other volunteers who have turned out at eight in the morning for voluntary duties with the British Trust For Conservation Volunteers (BTCV).

The BTCV are large well established group and work with up to 300,000 volunteers a year throughout the UK and Ireland. One of BTCV’s guiding principles is to improve the environment positively and sustainably, and at the same time increase ecological awareness and motivate the long term unemployed back to work.

OSIER BEDS
We were told to bring sturdy boots, a waterproof jacket and a packed lunch for the day, as we will be out for a while. It’s a bit of a magical mystery tour as no-one has been told where we are going. The bus has picked us up from the centre of Nottingham and headed out into the countryside where the mystery was revealed. We were to do some maintenance work on an osier bed 14 miles away. Osier beds are traditionally areas of very wet ground that have been set aside to grow willows for basket making. I know exactly where we are heading because it’s on the outskirts of the town where I grew up and spent most of my summers when I was an irritating teenager.

Cue the wobbly images and music as I float back to my childhood again and have a flashback within a flashback…….

The osier beds are an area of about 5 acres and are a ten-minute walk from the main road and civilisation. My friends and I had a spot in there where we would pitch our tents at the beginning of the summer holidays and keep them up for weeks, using them as our second homes. It was a very handy place, as I could still get home everyday for my tea and have a bath. It might have felt like living wild but the home comforts were never far away.

SIMPLE PLEASURES
We had haystacks to sit on and regularly had a campfire and occasionally did a bit of cooking. A friend of mine tried to heat up a tin of soup one day…. without opening the tin. The results were very dramatic as it blew up in his face spraying him with molten minestrone. When his parents asked what the injury was, embarrassingly he told them he fell off of his bike and scraped his face across the tarmac, as if that would make the parents feel better. They didn’t question it and lessons were learned.

Camping out gave us an ideal opportunity to get up to late night mischief too. For some reason we thought it was hilarious to get ten of us into a phone box then set off a smoke bomb. They weren’t actually smoke bombs as such; they were fumigation tablets for killing pests in greenhouses. How we survived I don’t know. I realise now that the police cleared us out of the small metal booths because we were poisoning ourselves, not because we were being public nuisances…another lesson learned.

BACK TO THE BEDS
The osier beds were a haven for us and if you kept to certain areas, you didn’t sink. The closest place I can think of that reminds me of the woodland is Enagh Loch in Derry near Strathfoyle. There’s an area there where a World War 2 plane crashed and was never found as it sunk into the water and mud.

Well coming back as a volunteer, we start to empty the van of slash hooks and sandwiches. Our job for the day is to clear the brambles. I couldn’t believe the difference in the area. It was dry, very dry. There was a road going to the edge of the osier wood, put in by the Boots Company that had built a factory next to it as it was a good area logistically to the motorway system. The factory had no windows as it was used for developing film so the workers there were in darkness all day. The designers probably thought that the staff needed something pretty to look at in their break times so a small lake, complete with fountain, had been dug near the main doors. To feed the lake, the water had been redirected from the osier bed, and not surprisingly, the marshy area had turned into a regular woodland.

The BTCV organisers were well aware of the situation, but that made no difference to their enthusiasm in up keeping the area maintained. I think they knew that the Boots factory would come and go, and when it did the osier bed would get it’s water back.

At the end of a long day I carried the slashooks back to the van and in my enthusiasm I had far too many of them in my arms “You are an accident waiting to happen” one of the leaders told me as I struggled to keep the sharp blades away from my legs. “Take your time, it’s not a race. Carry less and make more trips.” They advised. Another lesson learned…..


GETTING INVOLVED
The BTCV organisation has quietly been helping to re-establish a lot of neglected corners of the country. Starting in 1959, they are celebrating 50 years of environmental work. The closest group to us are in Derry on Hawkin St. Because of the economic climate, voluntary work is on the increase and hopefully groups such as the BTCV will benefit from people having more time on their hands. If you fancy getting involved and taking part in voluntary environmental work, you can ring them on +44 28 71262664 or e-mail I.Black@btcv.org.uk

Zen

THE ART OF ZEN

“Junk is something you’ve kept for years and throw away three weeks before you need it.” I’m at Alan’s house in Dublin. Alan is a friend of mine who has, up until recently, been a bit of a high flier in the pharmaceutical industry and has now retired. He is taking things easy and being middle aged and single seems to have adapted to it very well. His flat is very uncluttered, or you could say it was minimalist in design. “I got rid of most of my things when I finished work” he tells me. “I always aspired to Percy Shaw (the man that invented the cat’s eyes on the road). He made his millions with a simple invention and lived in an empty house with a tea chest for a chair and a telly, which has always sounded good to me.” He laughs.

Alan doesn’t think much to domesticity either. “I have so little clutter in the house that the only type of housework I need do is to sweep the room with a glance.” He’s not joking as following in Percy’s footsteps Alan has just a couple of chairs, TV and stereo in the room with a scattering of magazines and a coffee table. “The table keeps things off of the floor and I don’t have to bend too much to pick things up.”

RELAXING
Alan’s job was stressful so he certainly makes the most of any time to relax. “I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t have enough to do when I stopped working” he continues “I decided to clear out the garden and it’s turned out to be the best alternative therapy I could ever wish for.” Alan opens the double patio doors into the garden and proudly shows me his work…a simple Zen Garden.

Alan’s garden is about 100 square metres and surrounded by a high wooden fence, which helps to create a feeling of privacy. Gone is the lawn and in its place are four very simple raised beds, which have been dissected by straight paths. “Here’s it is,” Alan says proudly as we walk into his outside room. “It is only when you start a garden like this that you realise something important happens every day.” He says philosophically.




AS INDIVIDUAL AS YOU
“They are really easy to make, you don’t need any woodworking skills as the wood yard cuts all the planks for you, all I did was nail them together.” Alan goes into a bit more detail. “There are several types of Zen gardens, the most prominent being the dry rock type, called karesansui, literally meaning dry-mountain-and-water gardens. Gravel and rocks have been used to denote sacred areas of Japan since time immemorial, so I thought that’s what I’d use.” Alan’s raised beds have been filled with sand, fine gravel and larger rocks, which have been placed off centre in each bed and a few choice statues.

The only greenery to be seen are three small bamboo’s in pots, which help to break up the paths straight edges. “Water is often represented with sand or pebbles; mountains with stone; and islands with masses of moss or rock material” He says, “All I need to do is rake it every day.”.

“I spend at least an hour a day raking the garden.” Alan confesses. “As part of the Zen daily ritual, the sand and gravel is raked in the pattern of a flowing river.” “It’s very neat and tidy” I say, “You can tell you don’t have any pets”.
“Or children.” Alan agrees with a shudder which makes me glad I left my two at home.

I look around, soaking in the tranquillity.

“The power of the garden is its silence and ability to still the mind; it’s a very peaceful place to be, even if the neighbours cats use it as a loo sometimes.” Alan shrugs matter of factly.

HUMBLE SIMPLICITY
I am very much impressed with this little oasis. Alan gives me a little bit of background. “Zen rock gardens can express humble simplicity and the passage of time, Zen priests often used distant mountains and views as design elements in their tiny gardens, a principle called shakkei (borrowed scenery). Zen gardens can create the illusion of a long journey within a limited space. Each turn or bend of my little garden offers an opportunity to look at a special object or symbol. The idea of this is to keep the stroller’s mind on spiritual matters.” I suggest that he has found enlightenment. “Enlightenment is just another word for feeling comfortable being a completely ordinary person, which I do.” He says without thinking and continues. “Strolling in gardens goes back to India, where walking around a temple symbolised walking around the spiritual centre of the universe. India’s so-called “stroll gardens” were adapted by the Chinese, who decorated their gardens with symbols of the Buddhist universe, purifying the mind with each encounter.”

COST
I change the mood by talking about money. “I used very good materials” Alan answered, “so it cost me a few thousand euro to put together, the lighting alone cost the price of a holiday.” The lighting was so discreet that I hadn’t even noticed it was there. “The lights are disguised as stones and they highlight the statues.” He tells me and continues. “You could put something like this together for a few euro though if you were inventive with the materials. Go for what you like the look and feel of. You can make the garden any size too. I have totally filled my garden with the design; other people might just want to put aside a small area for contemplation and meditation or to just be a talking point. There’s really no limit, but remember that simplicity and tidiness are key factors; the design won’t work if there are a lot of weeds about.

PRESENT
“Here’s something for you.” Alan steers me back into the house “It’s your own mini Zen garden, the scale is smaller but the principles are the same.” Alan passes me a small bag and a rectangular pot container. “ You can play with this in your quieter moments. “ I have a peep in the bag; there are a few small stones, a larger piece of sandstone and some sand. “Change the design every day and make patterns that please you, there are no hard and fast rules.” I nod and thank him for the present.

Alan then gives me another good piece of advice before we sit on the two chairs in the front room to drink our herbal tea. “Your mind is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds, the harvest you get can be either flowers or weeds.”