'Willpower & sheer idiocy combine in harmony'
Brighten up winter with dogwoods, willows, brambles and bamboo
WINTER shouldn't be a time of bare soil and no interest in a garden. Sure, flowers are virtually non existent, but you have to look deeper and plan ahead to see beauty.
This is where coloured and textured stems and bark come into their own. It's easy for these plants to be overlooked - that's why it's best to choose them in winter, when you can appreciate their impact.
Dogwoods (Cornus)
Tough as nails, between 1.5m and 2.5m tall, with white/cream flowers in late spring, some with variegated leaves. They'll tolerate some shade, but it's stem colour they're grown for.
The best are C. alba Sibirica, with red stems; C. sanguinea Midwinter Fire and Winter Beauty (orange-red).
Other good choices are C. stolonifera Flaviramea (acid green/yellow); C. alba Kesselringii (dark purple/almost black), with purple-green foliage. I have C. alba Aurea (red stems, golden foliage).
I had a Cornus x alba Elegantissima, with white flowers in spring, variegated leaves in summer and red/brown stems in winter. It outgrew its welcome and proved a hideous task to dig it out - dogwoods produce suckers. Luckily, to get the best winter colour, you must prune them hard in early spring (pollarding).
Willows (Salix)
Salix alba Britzensis produces bright orange rods, a perfect contrast with the violet willow, S. daphnoides, whose stems are coated with a grey-white bloom. In February, the wands produce silvery 'pussy willow' catkins.
Other good willows are S. phylicifolia (brownish-purple stems); S. alba vitellina (golden yellow); S. alba Yelverton; S. alba var. vitellina (yellow/orange stems); S. alba var. vitellina Britenzis (orange); S. gracilistyla Melanostachys (black catkins and brick-red anthers). Keep them pollarded, or you'll end up with a 7m tree!
Brambles
Many brambles have ornamental stems. The amusingly-named Rubus cockburnianus (white-stemmed bramble) is too big for an ordinary garden, but cultivar Goldenvale is less vigorous and yellow-leaved.
Hazel
Corylus avellana Contorta, the corkscrew hazel, is fascinating because of its contorted shape. In early spring, yellow green catkins appear on the naked wood.
Bamboo
There are several varieties useful for winter stems, including Phyllostachys aureocaulis and the black-stemmed P. nigra, but not for small gardens.
Stems, bark & blossom for winter & spring colour
Top, Sunberry; Cornus Midwinter Fire at Harlow Carr: C. alba Aurea (golden dogwood), with ivy and blue-tinged Phormium.
Coloured barks
IF you've room for a tree, Betula utilis var. jacquemontii Grayswood Ghost is the best of the Himalayan birches, with pure white bark.
A good medium-sized tree is Betula utilis jaquemontii Silver Shadow.
Acers, or Japanese maples, have many varieties with interesting bark: A. griseum, the paper-bark maple, has bark that peels off the main trunk in thin layers, like scrolls, giving a ragged texture. Don't let the kids pull it off!
A. davidii, the snake-bark maple, has purple-green bark with vertical white stripes; A. Sango-kaku, the coral-bark maple does what it says on the tin; A. davidii George Forrest has contrasting light and dark green to brown vertical stripes on its bark.
All these maples have great autumn colour, but don't like exposed sites, as their leaves easily get scorched by strong winds.
Betula utilis var. jacquemontii Grayswood Ghost with Cornus Midwinter Fire.
How to plant a tree
CONTAINER-GROWN trees can be planted at any time, unless the soil is frozen or waterlogged, but are easier to care for if planted in autumn or winter.
Bareroot and rootballed trees should be planted immediately, or heeled in (temporary placing in soil to prevent roots drying out).
Soak the container thoroughly, or steep the rootball in a bucket of water for an hour.
To plant, loosen the soil generally to eliminate compaction and improve drainage and fertility by incorporating fish, blood and bone, organic matter and lime (if required).
Remove plants from containers or fabric wrapping (some trees must have the wrapping left on - this will be specified by the grower - but normally it should be taken off).
Digging the hole
Dig a hole no deeper than the roots, but 2-3 times the diameter. Break up the soil at the sides and bottom. With container-grown plants, the top layers of compost should be scraped away, and the point where the roots flare out should be near the surface. Place the tree in the hole, refill and firm soil gently.
Pile some of the remaining soil around the tree to create a ‘lip’, to direct water to the rootball. You can also half-bury a 2-litre pop bottle with the bottom cut off - this gets water straight to the roots.
If the tree requires staking, use two short stakes, one either side, with a crossbar joining the two. Position the stakes on the upwind side of the tree, so that the prevailing wind pushes the tree away from the stake.
Regular watering is essential. If your tree is planted in a lawn, an area about 1m in diameter should be kept clear of grass.
Weeping cherry tree blossom.
ONE of the prettiest - and most fleeting sights of the year - is 'May blossom' - flowering cherries, crab apples and plums.
I've had a dwarf weeping flowering cherry with double pink flowers for 20 years. It's lovely in flower, but so frustrating when the blossom's battered by heavy rain and high winds.
I also have the crab apple John Downie, now a few years old. It has a good display of blossoms, fruit and autumn colour. I'd recommend it.
Buy a variety that gives you interest in other seasons, so it earns its keep. Here's three recommendation from the RHS, all weeping, compact, deciduous and their maximum height is 2.5-4m.
Flowering cherry Kiku-shidare-zakura: leaves are bronze when young, later glossy green. Flowers are fully double, rich pink, to 3.5cm wide.
Single pink weeping cherry (Prunus × subhirtella Pendula Rubra): ovate leaves turn orange and red in autumn. Flowers single, deep rose-pink from redder buds.
Crab apple Malus Red Jade: white flowers opening from pink buds, followed by small, shiny red fruits in autumn/winter, with good autumn colour. For stockists, log on to www.rhs.org.uk/plants.
Top 3 blossom trees
I'm a paragraph. .
Crab apple John Downie.
