Gardening for a Lifetime by Sydney Eddison

Author:Sydney Eddison
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Publisher: Timber Press
Published: 2010-06-16T21:00:00+00:00

Only a year before the Japanese fantail willow went to its reward, I made the really difficult decision to cut down another favorite tree, a thirty-year-old weeping Higan cherry (Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula’). Given to me by a great friend in memory of my mother, it was ravishingly beautiful as a young thing, a bower of pale pink blossoms in May and in the fall a cascade of golden-orange leaves. Even in the winter, its graceful lines made a contribution to the garden. But time was not kind to the cherry.

In his definitive Manual of Woody Landscape Plants, Michael Dirr says that the Higan cherry is one of the hardier and longer lived of the cherries but that as a breed they are prone to disease and insect damage. I suspect borers in the case of my tree. There were wounds in the bark that had been oozing amber sap for several years. And gradually twigs and branches began to die off and litter the ground. So with a sharp pang of regret, I saw it felled and hauled away.

However, my sorrow at losing the cherry was balanced by my pleasure in seeing the field behind it for the first time in years. I began planting daffodils in the field in 1981 and every spring since have divided a few of the most vigorous and added a few new ones in the fall. But it had been a long time since I had seen them bloom. Suddenly, in the absence of the cherry, I could look out of the windows and see from my office and from the kitchen “a host of golden daffodils.”

Another unexpected result of removing the cherry was that the whole of bed A now lay in full view and was flooded with sunlight. Inspired by the possibilities this offered, I imposed yet again upon the kindness of Terence Farrell to help me extend the bed a few feet to accommodate a handsome dwarf blue spruce (Picea pungens ‘Montgomery’).

So life in an old garden isn’t all Sturm und Drang. The simplifying process can actually offer opportunities. By not attempting to replace the lost trees, I’ve gained light and space, which has allowed me to acquire a couple of wonderful new shrubs. But don’t feel compelled to replace trees or fill in every hole that appears in your landscape. You may find that you get a better idea or actually prefer the open space.

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