In The Garden

In the Garden

Ralph Purkhiser, Purdue University Master Gardener

     Last week, we discussed topping, coppicing and pollarding trees.  This week, we will continue with what are considered finer types of tree and shrub trimming.  These trimming techniques are actually art forms.

     Topiary is the art of trimming plants into controlled shapes.  This may range from geometrical shapes to making a plant resemble an animal, a machine or even a person.  Topiary also includes growing vines and herbaceous plants on wire forms to create a particular shape.  Topiaries are often found in very formal gardens, and also are used in amusement parks and many educational institutions. 

     Some plants lend themselves to topiary.  In general, a good topiary candidate is a plant with small leaves and is capable of producing adventitious leaves on old wood.  Topiaries need frequent attention.  As plants grow, the new leaves may disrupt the intended shape.  At the Palace of Versailles, gardeners use scissors to trim back errant growth on a daily basis.  I once visited the magnificent topiary gardens of Mr. Pearl Fryor in Bishopville, South Carolina, and was amazed at the fanciful shapes this self-taught artist had shaped from trees and shrubs.  However, I later learned that Mr. Fryor had developed health problems, and the gardens quickly deteriorated.  Luckily, a local group formed to get the garden back in shape and the volunteers continue to maintain the garden.  Many people have been charmed by the spirals carved from spruces and yews, only to discover that maintaining those forms requires frequent and skilled trimming.

     Another decorative trimming style often found in formal gardens is espalier.  This is the practice of trimming woody plants to grow nearly flat against a wall or a fence.  Espaliered fruit trees allow fruit to be grown in gardens that might not have the space for a traditional orchard.  Like topiary, espalier requires frequent attention.  Wires or twine are often used to train branches to grow in particular directions.  A popular espalier shape resembles a candelabra.  The making of an espalier garden requires years of training and practice.

     One of the most popular trimming styles is the art of bonsai.  The word simply means “trees in trays” in Japanese, but over centuries in the orient, the art form has evolved into a precise cultivation method.  I have often heard people refer to a bonsai tree as if it were a particular species.  Actually, almost any tree may become a bonsai specimen.  In addition to trimming and shaping the above-ground portion of the tree, bonsai requires pruning the roots.  The traditional goal is to create a miniature form of a tree that is gnarled and windswept, such as one finds in the mountains or other harsh environments.  As with espalier, trees are often shaped by wiring the limbs to train them to grow in a desired shape.  Experts also carve hollows in trees.  Leaves are often removed until the tree develops smaller leaves.  Special growing media are usually used for bonsai specimens, often lacking organic components that hold water.  Therefore, bonsai trees require frequent watering and attention.

     These short descriptions of specialized trimming arts are not intended to be comprehensive.  If you are interested in any of these methods, I urge you to get involved with a master of the art you choose.  I certainly am not an expert on any of these methods, although I like to dabble in them, and I certainly appreciate the work of the masters.

     Fall colors are at their peak in southern Indiana.  Get out and enjoy the beauty of nature.  If you do not have a favorite viewing place, come sit with me in the giant hands at the top of the cliff at Sandhill Gardens.  The colors in the valley below are especially magnificent at sunset.

• Lifestyle

In the Garden

Ralph Purkhiser, Purdue University Master Gardener

     In a recent column, I mentioned a pollarded tree in my landscape, but did not give a lengthy explanation about pollarding.  That has generated several questions this week, so I thought I would write about some of the trimming methods used in the landscape trade.

     Tree topping has long been a method used to control the height of trees.  Utility companies used to top trees along their rights-of-way (That is the correct plural.)  Men working from bucket trucks would cut off the upper branches of trees to make them shorter than the adjacent utility lines.  Sometimes, people would also hire tree trimmers to top other trees in their lawns, often fearful of large trees towering over their homes and other buildings.  The problem is that topping usually creates more problems than it solves.

     Indiscriminately cutting the branches to a particular height means that many, if not most, of the cuts will not be at branch junctions.  That means there will be many stick-ups left in the tree canopy.  When a tree is properly trimmed at the collar near a branch junction, the tree is able to heal itself.  Stick-ups do not heal quickly, inviting insect damage and disease to enter the tree.  New growth also becomes a problem.  Junction cuts, since they scab over quickly, do not usually result in new growth.  Stick-ups will sprout new growth, which is usually straight up and spindly.  Within a few years, that growth will reach the utility lines and the whole process must be repeated.  The new growth is also usually weak, so the branches often break in the wind and fall.  When people top trees near their homes because of fear of falling branches, they actually increase the likelihood of falling branches from the re-growth. 

     There are good reasons for removing part of a tree’s canopy, but it should be done by an arborist who knows to cut branches only at branch junction cuffs.  Removing dead or damaged branches or branches that are rubbing against a structure will improve a tree’s appearance and make it safer, it the trimming is properly done.

     Coppicing and pollarding are really forms of tree topping, but are done for specific reasons.  In medieval times, before crops like corn and soybeans were introduced to Europe, farmers often depended on trees to provide silage to feed animals through the winter.  Wood was also a common heating fuel and was used for construction.  Many utensils used in everyday life were often carved from wood.  Soon, the demand for wood products was greater than natural forest growth could supply.  They noticed that some trees would re-grow from the stumps left after cutting a tree.  That re-growth was usually straight, making it good for posts and building materials for boat construction.  Harvesting during the summer also allowed farmers to make silage from the leaves of the re-growth, and thus the practicing of coppicing was born.  Land owners would harvest an area of coppiced trees on a regular rotation, usually every two to six years for animal feed or every eight to ten years for wood, depending on the species and the planned use of the wood.

     Coppicing had some drawbacks.  If one pastured animals in the woodland, they would eat the leaves before they could be harvested.  That gave rise to the practice of pollarding.  In pollarding, the original trees would not be but to near the ground.  Instead, stubs would be left tall enough to keep the animals from grazing the canopy.  Wood lots managed by regular harvesting may supply livestock food and wood for many years, but the trees must have regular attention.

     Eventually, someone decided to coppice and pollard trees to produce a particular look in the landscape.  Many European grand estates have lanes lined by pollarded plane trees, looking like rows of lollipops along the lane.  Maintaining such a look requires a lot of work. 

     Next week, we will explore some other trimming techniques used to produce ornamental trees.

In the Garden

Ralph Purkhiser, Purdue University Master Gardener

     I am writing this column on Sunday, October 13, 2024.  My mother, Helen Marie Hooten Purkhiser, was born a hundred years ago today, just a few feet from where I am sitting.  Nothing remains of the old house but some foundation stones, which were likely stones found right here on the property.  They define one of the flower beds that now exist within the area where the house stood.  However, the garden holds many memories of my mother.

     Visitors to Sandhill Gardens know that there are many places to sit in the gardens.  While I have developed a great love of garden benches and continue to add unusual seating options, the real reason that I began putting seats everywhere was to accommodate my mother’s wish to be in the garden.  We gardened together for many years, and when her health began to fail, she needed to rest frequently.  Later, she just wanted to be in the garden as I worked and would sit in the nearest shady spot while I completed the task at hand.  One of the early garden seats is a swing that is on a metal stand.  I purchased that stand at the estate sale of Gladys Kennedy, my grandmother’s cousin, so it was a special seat for Mom.  There are also two metal chairs that were purchased at the estate sale of a family friend.  They were pink, and that was Mom’s favorite color.  They have been painted several times over the years, but always pink.  They will need to be painted again this winter, but they will remain pink.  Another special bench is a butterfly bench which Mom loved when visiting the Butterfly Palace on a trip to Branson, Missouri.  The bench in the “Old House Garden” was fashioned by my nephew, Dwight, using a set of metal wheels that came from her great uncle Tucker Pierce’s farm.  Even the swing on the porch has special meaning.  It was made by my grandfather, and was one of Mom’s favorite places to entertain guests.

     There are many other reminders of Mom in the gardens.  As I mentioned, her favorite color was pink, and pink flowers are abundant in the gardens.  Many of the pink perennials and pink-flowering shrubs were purchased as gifts for her.  She loved to tell the story of the time her friend, Minnie, drove by and admired a double-flowering pink weigela in the yard.  Minnie was so distracted by the beautiful bush that she ran off the road and knocked over our mailbox.  Mom told Minnie that she should just pull in the driveway next time and take a closer look.

     Many of the accessories in the garden also hold precious memories.  A large concrete basket planter was actually Mom’s Easter basket one year.  Mom loved to jump rope, and would skip rope with her grandchildren when she visited them at school for grandparents’ day.  I found a piece of statuary of a girl jumping rope and bought if for her.  She loved it, and I think of her every time I pass that piece.  Her favorite fountain was a cherub pouring water.  Every year, many of my houseplants spend the summer around that fountain.  The splash from the fountain waters the plants.

     Mom spent most of her 86 years on this earth right here on Sandhill.  She and her siblings walked through the woods to the Miller school.  She played on the cliff and, since she was very small, she would tell us how she could hide in a crevice between two large rocks.  She was quick to tell everyone that dynamite comes in small packages, and that is the way she lived.  She worked hard, but loved to have fun.

     We shared a lot of good times, but the gardens hold the most precious memories.  I went out to do some work in the gardens today, but I spent a lot of time sitting on various seats and remembering the times we spent in the gardens.  Sometimes, I think I hear her whisper in the wind chimes that she loved.

In the Garden

Ralph Purkhiser, Purdue University Master Gardener

     The weather has turned more fall-like this week, but we are probably still a couple of weeks out for peak fall color.  During this transition time, the garden changes a bit every day.

     Many flowers will cease blooming, even before we get a killing frost.  Plants often have a set life cycle, and it is normal for flowers to dry up as the seeds in them mature.  You may deadhead the spent flowers to prolong the blooming period, but I usually stop deadheading at this time of year so the plants will set seed for next year.  Many native flowers will drop their seeds and actually begin their life cycle for another season during the waning days of frost-free weather.  You may notice that some plants will sprout in the next few weeks.  When frost comes, they will go dormant and will return in the spring to produce flowers again.

     Many plants usually considered weeds also follow this life cycle.  You may notice new dandelions and chickweeds coming up.  Both of these plants were once considered vegetable garden plants, but they have long-since escaped cultivation and may grow almost anywhere.  However, their wild status does not diminish their food value, and the young plants produced in the fall are considered the best leaves to pick for salads.  The young plants are also easier to kill, if that is your desire.  You may dig them out, smother them with cardboard or plastic or kill them with chemical herbicides.

     It is also a good time to plant most wildflowers, including native milkweeds.  You may gather seed pods that will soon release their seeds.  Make sure to ask permission if you are gathering seeds from land that you do not own.  At Sandhill Gardens, I hope to plant more butterfly weed, ironweed and Joe Pye weed in my meadow.  I also plan to scatter aster seeds from the corner of the meadow where they now grow to other parts of the meadow.  Even if the seeds are not ones that germinate in the fall, planting now is closer to the way plants naturally propagate themselves.  Some of the seeds need the cold weather of winter to sprout in the spring.

     As night-time temperatures fall into the 50’s, it is time for one of my least-favorite garden chores.  While I love my houseplants, I do not relish bringing them back into the house from their summer sojourn in the gardens.  Some of the more tender tropical plants have already been moved inside, as they suffer if temperatures fall into the 50’s.  Others will tolerate cooler temperatures and some will even live through some light frost.  That allows me to move the plants in waves.  Before bringing a plant inside, I inspect the plant to determine if it needs to be re-potted.  I usually water them thoroughly the day before I move them.  I inspect them for insects and their eggs, treating them as needed.  I usually use an insecticidal soap if infestations are too great for hand removal.

     The most important activity during the fall is simply sitting in the garden and enjoying the garden that has been your summer’s labor.  If you do not have a place to do this, come and sit with me in one of my new hand chairs and watch the colors change in the woods beyond the cliff.  The chairs face the west, so sunset is the best time for viewing.