DWARFED TREES AND SHRUBS

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 252, 14 January 1928, Page 24

DWARFED TREES AND SHRUBS

JAPANESE STILL Perhaps the most obviously artificial of cultivated forms are the dwarf trees so frequently seen ornamenting the rooms and grounds of our larger houses. The Japanese have from time immemorial been adept in the art of producing dwarf and bizarre forms of trees. Seeds are sown in wire or wicker baskets filled with mould, and the young plants are allowed to grow until the developing roots protrude through the wires. These are then removed and the operation repeated periodically as growth proceeds. The plants are thus prevented from taking up the increased amount of mineral matter required to feed the new tissues of the plant, and

as a result they become stunted. . Simultaneously with the treatment of the roots, careful watch is kept on the growing stems, and all lateral buds appearing in positions in which they are not desired are rubbed off so that the plants are made to conform in shape to the wishes of the cultivator. In the course of years the trees develop all the normal characters of the species to which they belong, but on a very reduced scale, and instead of the giants with trunks 3 feet in diameter and 40 feet high, dwarfs are produced measuring perhaps but lOin. to 12in high with a. girth of only 3in. to 4in. The raising of perfect specimens calls for great skill and patience, and although many efforts have been made by European nurserymen to grow these curiosities, to supply the demand of the public, the Japanese are still the only people who appear to thoroughly understand the art. CLEMATIS INDIVISA THE ENTIRE-LEAFED CLEMATIS Of all native creepers of New Zealand, none is as popular as the clematis. There are about nine species found on both islands, one of the most handsome being C. Indivisa. The foliage is of a thick, glossy green colour and the flowers pure white, the sepals acting as protective and attractive organs. It is referred to by the Maoris of the North Island as the sacred flower (Fua-wananga). A very rapid grower, it soon climbs up the trunk of a tree and hangs in festoons of starry white flowers, which change into feathery crowns of seed eaually as beautiful as the flower. The variety grows splendidly in Auckland, and very little cultivation is necessary. Set the young plants during the spring and water well until struck. One plant is all that is needed, for once established they can easily be propagated by cuttings of side shoots.