"Dwarf Trees of Great Age" from the Country-side


       "Queer Fashions in Gardening" (1906), paragraphs twenty-four to final twenty-eight of this two-page article with heavy emphasis on topiary:

       "Another form of fantastic gardening which has lately attracted some attention is the cultivation of dwarfed trees in pots.  Introduced from Japan, it has perhaps some excuse there, for the majority of the Japanese have only tiny backyard gardens, and in them, by means of these dwarfed trees, they are able to produce some


"Dwarf Trees of Great Age."
(Photo. Reg. H. Cocks)

       "Fortunately, the time required for their growth and their consequent expense render it unlikely that they will ever become very popular in this country [sic].  Some of them, confined in small pots or jardinieres, and only about a foot high, are several hundred years old.
       "There is no secret, as some suppose, about the manner of their production.
       "In a Japanese horticultural catalogue which lies before me it is fully described.  The young shoots are pinched back 'from April to the middle of June, and always with the finger and thumb.'  Thus growth is prevented.  In summer sufficient water is given to keep the soil moist, and in winter the supply is reduced.  Manure is supplied twice a month in spring and autumn, but not in the heat of summer, and for this purpose finely powdered oilcake is recommended.
       "Repotting is performed every second or third year, about a third of the old soil being worked away with a sharp-pointed stick and fresh being added, the plant not being transferred to a larger pot unless it is absolutely necessary."  1



NOTES

1     Davidson, H.C.  "Queer Fashions in Gardening," The Country-Side, A Journal of the Country, Garden, Nature, and Wild Life, ed. by E. Kay Robinson (London: The Country-Side Limited; Price 3d.), No. 53, Vol. 3, May 19, 1906, pg. 11.

Photo originally from Baxter.



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