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By Mrs FM
Hartley.
Unusual
& Old
Fashioned Fruit
Trees.
Unusual
Vegetables,
Herbs & Other
Edible Plants.
Environmental
Issues And Going Green.
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By
Alan J Hartley
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Jobs For
Winter.
In the last year, or two,
environmental issues have become more and more important to more and
more people. In particular the idea that we need to plant trees, in
great numbers, to replace those that have been, and continue to be, cut
down, has been hitting all the headlines and even the politicians are
making great promises of tree planting efforts. However, a tree planting
campaign is nothing new as I remember that we had one back when I was a
teenager living on my mom and dads Garden Centre. Back then, the
campaign here in the UK was launched as “Plant A Tree, In 73.” This was
of course 1973 and although they tried to keep the initial momentum
going by adding, “Plant one more in 74,” the campaign rapidly faded and
I don’t know that very much really happened. It certainly didn’t do much
to change our attitudes to trees as deforestation everywhere seems to
have continued at an ever increasing pace ever since.
Now however, is the ideal time to plant trees as long as the ground is
not actually frozen. This time of year you can buy and plant “Bare
Root,” trees far more cheaply than potted ones. Not many normal retail
outlets have much of a selection of “Bare Root Trees,” though these
days, but “On Line,” retailers offer a quite bewildering array that are
easily found if you browse the Internet. For some, even the price of a
“Bare Root Tree,” might seem too much to pay and there are alternative
ways of getting trees. Few trees grow easily from cuttings with the
exception Willows that will readily root in a jug full of water, but you
can often find self rooted stems on Hazel, Fig and Elderberry trees to
name but a few. Friends who have trees already may be able to provide
you with this type of young tree. Another cheap method of obtaining
trees is to grow them from seed. Most trees will take several years from
seed before they even begin to look like trees, but you will get a
number of seedlings out of each packet and for a couple of pounds a
packet who can complain. However, you don’t even have to buy packets of
seeds to grow many native trees and bushes as you can simply collect the
seeds from nature. That doesn’t mean raiding Arboretums, gardens, or
even parks to collect seeds, but it should be alright to collect a few
from hedgerows. All kids like planting Acorns and Horse Chestnuts, and
Pine cones are often collected by children, but usually they lose most
of their seeds before you can get at them. Unfortunately many of these
native trees will grow into big trees that are only really suited for
fields and stately homes. The same is true of winged Sycamore seeds and
Beech nuts, but some trees like Rowans, that are also quite common, make
a lovely small tree for a garden with their berries for the wildlife,
scented blossom and small, attractive leaves. Hawthorns are another
under rated tree with their lovely white blossom and colourful red
berries. They are usually seen only in hedges as there are not many
stand alone trees grown, but if allowed to grow, they will also develop
into a useful, small tree. You can get cultivated red flowered varieties
of them the same as with Horse Chestnut and again cultivated varieties
of the lovely, small, Elderberry are sometimes offered for sale with
dark purple leaves, but there is no need to go to the expense really as
the native trees have their attractions just fine. Laurel will also grow
from its blue/black berries quite easily and again you sometimes find
that low growing shoots will have rooted down into the ground.
Symphoricarpos albus, or The Snowberry bush is not really a tree, but a
bush that is often grown in hedges and it has lovely white, soft
berries. Recently I picked a few berries from a hedge in a public car
park. Hopefully these will germinate in their pots next spring after a
winters cold on them outside in my cold frame to stratify them in the
same way that most native trees and bushes need a cold spell before they
will germinate.
Apart from tree seed sowing, January is too early for most seeds to go
in, but it is time to think about some other types of planting. In the
coming days I will be potting up some of the edible “Oca,” Tubers, or
Oxalis to give it its proper name. It is a large, cultivated variety of
clover, or shamrock, but I have also got a lovely, non edible,
ornamental, pot plant, type version - the red leafed Oxalis Triangularis
Purpurea and another hardy type that can go in the garden with a “Bullseye,”
design on its leaves. I also have a little, hardy, alpine Oxalis that I
grew from seed which has nice yellow flowers in late summer and
occasionally you can see other small varieties with red and yellow
funnel shaped flowers offered for sale.
Apart from these I will be potting up some Jerusalem Artichokes to start
them off ready to donate, to a local charity where I work, in the
spring. The Artichokes will happily stay outside, but the Oca will need
to go in my cold greenhouse for a little shelter.
After all the trouble I had getting my Broad Bean seeds they didn’t
germinate very well with only half dozen out of each batch of a couple
of dozen seeds actually shooting. Sometimes in the past I have started
them off in pots and I think this time I should have done that as it has
been just too wet for them and they must have rotted in the ground.
Consequently I will have to re-sow in early Spring.
Elsewhere on my plot I have been collecting the last of the leaves and
mixing them in with other rubbish in my compost heap, but they are best
composted separately though as take longer than most types of rubbish to
rot. Also added to the pile were all of the undeveloped Figs that were
carefully picked from my Fig trees. The experts used to say that you
should leave them on the trees to give next years crop, but nowadays
they all advise removing them, or else they will get frosted, damaged
and prevent new Figs developing from the replacement buds, next season.
With winter really upon us now I bought some Horticultural Fleece to
wrap round my almost hardy Callistemon, or Bottle Brush. It is an
evergreen with fancy, delicate, red flowers shaped as its name suggests,
like a bottle brush. It will stand some cold, but was cut back badly by
the frosts when it was first planted the other year and only a tiny twig
survived. It is coming back well now though, so I am going to give it
some protection before the worst of Winter comes
Also at home my two different, small Eucalyptus trees one of which is
Gunnii, and the other an unknown large leafed type that I also grew from
seed, should be happy outside, but I took the one called “Lemon Bush,”
into my greenhouse with my citrus and tender palms in the hopes that I
can keep it alive.
In preparation for the really coldest nights still to come, I have dug
out and checked my old electric fan heater and bought an extension cable
to run out from the house to give me power. It will probably cost a
couple of pounds to run on each cold night, but I think it will be worth
it as the plants would cost a lot to replace. Now that December is gone
and we have had the shortest day, we should start getting more light
into the greenhouse. That in itself will make things a bit warmer in
there until the weather breaks and spring arrives.
 
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