Garden Railway Forum

If anyone is interested, Tesco ( other supermarkets are available!) have their miniature fir trees back in stock again for Christmas decorations at £3 each. I've had some for about 6 years and the biggest one is still only about 40cm tall.

Thanks for the tip Philip. I think I spotted some in the Co-Op today too.

Do yours live outside all year round? Do you keep them potted?

Sorry for turning this into 'Twenty Questions' but as you've probably guessed, I'm keen on developing some miniature trees myself.

All the best,

Andrew

Andrew,
Yes I think most of the supermarkets stock as decorations at this time of year.

I plant them in the garden not leave them in pots, but I guess you could do that if you wanted.
I've bought them over a couple of years and had one or two that have died off but I think that's because of where I planted them and not a problem with the tree itself. They do NOT like their roots being very wet and they don't seem to tolerate drought very well, so well drained and keep them watered in a hot summer period. One tip, when you buy them they are in a plastic plant pot inside a poly bag inside a metal decorative container - take the plant pot out of the bag and the metal pot, because if you leave them in and it gets overwatered or left out in the rain, it will get the roots too wet and kill it - ask how I know!
This picture shows them planted by my railway, with a variety of other slow growing conifers, plus the one I bought yesterday still in its pot and covered in fake snow ( soon washes off as soon as it rains). The older ones are the conical shaped brownish looking ones that appear to be dying! They aren't really, they just go a sort of reddish brown in winter but come back green again in spring.
Btw, the botanical name is: Chamaecyparis thyoides 'Top Point'

Thanks Philip,

They look really good. I think I'll give them a go.

Andrew

These trees look very suitable for a long trem project that I have in mind for my railway but I'm always wary of the growth as I have been caught out in the past with so called miniature trees.
With your experience of them what sort of growth rate would you expect to see, is it a foot in a year or a foot in ten years?

pandsrowe wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 9:22 am
With your experience of them what sort of growth rate would you expect to see, is it a foot in a year or a foot in ten years?

Phil,
I'd say about a foot in 10years, or possibly slightly more. If you look at the picture I posted for Andrew, above, the largest one, to the RHS of the man, was planted 6 years ago and at the time was nominally the same size as the new one still in its pot. I've got another one bought at the same time as the big one which died back a bit due to getting too wet and is still only about 100mm tall. The theoretical maximum growth quoted on various horticultural sites is from memory approx 1400mm high. I work on the theory that at £3 each, they can almost be treated as disposable and replaced as and when they get too big. This picture shows roughly the same scene in 2013 so you can see how much that tree and its neigbour to the right,has grown.

I bought 3 miniature cypress or similar trees to go alongside my 'under construction' track bed and have planted them very close to each other so they will form a miniature hedge and keep each other in check. Will probably plant a few more in the spring. You can root prune them in situ by digging down with trowel and knife and cut the roots back.
Also you can plant them in a hole in a 'box' of tiles or pieces of concrete slab vertically lining the sides of the hole and maybe one horizontally in the bottom of the hole. Anything to restrict the roots, as that will dictate their growth above ground. As you say, only 3 quid so don't be scared of getting savage with the roots.

That's a great pic. Philip, very tranquil. The sort of scene where all you can hear is the buzz of insects.
Grant.

LNR wrote: ↑Mon Nov 27, 2017 10:51 pm That's a great pic. Philip, very tranquil. The sort of scene where all you can hear is the buzz of insects.
Grant.

Agree that image is great - what narrow gauge passenger station are about - quiet, rarely used and in the middle of no where!

Thanks for the heads up Philipy these miniature fir trees work a treat.