HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 10, Issue 458, 20 October 1992, Page 15

HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER

by

Bea

Barnes

Our little burst of spring was rather short lived. All the new growth encouraged by the warm sunshine has suffered from the heavy cold rain, snow, and the cold southerly winds. This brings us back to the old question of shelter from the elements being of prime importance when creating a g arden. I think most keen gardeners enjoy the programme on TV ' Palmer' s Garden Show' and follow Maggie Barry around all the beautiful gardens which have been featured on the programme. Those beautiful gardens amply illustrate the

importance of providing good shelter. Agreed we cannot all have the amount of land (and the cash to go with it) to create such masterpieces, but whether large or small a garden without shelter from the prevailing winds will never reach its potential. In town gardens especially it is not always possible to grow large trees for shelter and shade, but even the smallest garden will happily accommodate one or two of the smallest trees and these will give grace and character to the garden in addition to doing their share to

help shelter the garden. A timber fence will provide quite good shelter for the plants growing beneath it but timber is an expensive commodity these days. So we come to rely on plantings of the larger shrubs which will tolerate wind and will serve to protect the plants which are not quite so robust. Two or three taller bushes planted together to take the force of the wind from any one direc-

tion will give protection to quite a large area around them and while these are growing to a mature height a temporary shelter or windbreak can be built around the groupings until the shrubs themselves have grown large enough to take over. Some of the shrubs we have used quite successfully for shelter purposes are the pittosporums, eugenoides and tenufolium. Both will grow to four or five metres in height being broad at the base and tapering towards the top and both can be trimmed to desired

shape and height. They also serve quite well as taller hedges. Corokia bronze king is quite a dense bush with lovely coppery foliage. Growing to about 2m it is covered with bright yellow daisy-like flowers in spring with some red berry in the autumn. Aleria chessemanii, a dense evergreen shrub which will grow to two or three metres which again will have masses of bright white daisylike flowers in spring. Dodones viscosa purpureum, the purple leaf hop bush will grow in a fan shape to about 4m

and is excellent as a windbreak. An attractive small tree, the foliage colour blends well with light greens and golds. All of these are native to New Zealand and will blend in well with other plantings and are quite suitable for the smaller garden. Choisya ternata, a hardy evergreen with thick glossy leaves and a small lemon-scented flower is quite good for picking, grows to about three metres and is a really bushy shrub which will stand most conditions. Frost may damage Turn to page 16

HIGH COUNTRY GARDENER

by

Bea

Barnes

From page 15 the new growth but this can be trimmed back with no ill effects to the shrub. Viburnum plicatum mariesii is one of the loveliest of the viburnums. Deciduous in character it will grow to 3m. or more carrying large bracts of pure white flowers in spring which seem to lie flat on the branches. A mature specimen in flower is quite a breathtaking sight. Vibumum japonicum is an evergreen variety Biburnum opulous sterlie, the snowball tree, is very attractive

when in full flower and its thick twiggy branches even when leafless in winter will filter the strong air currents well. The taller conifers provide very good shelter from strong winds to which they seem to take no exception but some of these can be very slow growing. One we have in the front garden standing where it gets the full force of the westerly and north west winds is cupressus 'bluc ice', a lovely tree with broad feathery branches. The foliage is a true blue in winter and it has grown

to about 3m in the tree ycars it has been thcre. The largest flaxes will give good protection for the smallcr plants in the garden but they will grow into quite large clumps which need room. Tuis love the flaxflowers when they open and will visit daily all the time the flowers are there. Planting larger things to protect the smaller things and to block Ihe spaces created between larger shrubs or trees will provide a good shclter screen to protect ihe more dclicate plants and will make your garden a pleasant place to be in.