Plants for garden shelter

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 635, 7 May 1996, Page 4

Plants for garden shelter

The merry month of May has arrived and with it •Jack Frost. For the past couple of years or more we have found the benefit of all the shelter trees and shrubs we have planted in our garden. Sneaky little frosts just cannot creep in. If the trees and shrubs grow much taller and thicker neither will we, and we now have to thin out some things and remove others. Such a thing of course eventually happens if insufficient space is allowed for the plant to grow to its potential but in an area such as this where winters are longer and colder than in other parts of the country to provide adequate shelter in the shortest possible time is of value in protecting the more tender plants. For smaller town gardens the best way to achieve the faster result is to plant in their permanent positions the trees and shrubs which you wish to remain there, and plant in between anything fast growing to fill in the gaps which can, if necessary, be removed later. We have found dodonea viscasa, the evergreen New Zealand hop bush and dodonea viscasa purpurium, the purple variety are good shelter trees for a small garden. Very hardy, impervious to wind, the green variety has attractive white flowers in summer and the purple one has large pink flowers. The hardy camellias such as "Donatian" and "Debutante" will provide good shelter and, flowering longer, at least some of the lovely blooms will escape the bad weather. The native corolia is also a good choice growing only to about six feet in height and covered with yellow daisy flowers in spring followed by leaves in the autumn. Rhododendrons also provide shelterbut choose varieties which bloom mid or late season so that the flowering season will hopefully miss the worst of the weather. The conifer ranges make perfect shelter plants as most of them thrive in the wind, but beware of the fine foliage yellow or near white as these can burn if too exposed. Cham "Boulevard" is a good choice growing only to six or eight feet and has attractive bushy foliage which turns an attractive ice blue in winter. Cupressus "Blue Ice" is a spreading tree of a lovely blue colour which will eventually reach a height of about 15 feet but will stand trimming. Piesis japonica varieties are tough and provide shelter and the smaller varieties make good "fill ins" in between. Most hebes grow only to a medium height and are a good choice for this purpose.' We have found that anything removed later will always be received gratefully by someone creating a new garden. Mother's Day is fast approaching and a gift of tulip bulbs or the spring flowering gladioli nanus will be sure to please a gardener. Maybe gardening tools such as a new pair of secateurs, or a good pair of gardening gloves will be just what mother needs. Perhaps plant a pot or small trough with polyanthus which can be obtained in flower now, or perhaps some of the large flowered pansies. A little. tub of colour here and there in a garden can do much to brighten a dull winter day. For a hanging basket or a small tub the miniature violas are just the thing. The tinkerbell series in blue, violet, cream or gold will make a riot of colour in later winter, and the berry series with tiny multi coloured faces. Boy senberry , blackberry , goldenberry , loganberry and passionberry will flower in profusion from late winter to early summer.