Tiny Trees

Peter Butler · Post by **Peter Butler** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:09 pm

Today our local Lidl store had a selection of miniature conifers on sale at 5 for just £5.00..... bargain!
I guess this is also available at other stores and they look perfect on the garden railway.

MDLR · Post by **MDLR** » Thu Sep 11, 2014 11:36 pm

THey look very nice now, but you'll have to constantly prune them to keep them that small.

tom_tom_go · Post by **tom_tom_go** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 7:42 am

Your garden looks brilliant Peter (or rather your land!)

You could get a ride on railway ;-)

Peter Butler · Post by **Peter Butler** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 10:19 am

Brian, you may be correct in saying they will need constant pruning, but for that price, and the fact they do grow very slowly, I can live with it.

TonyW · Post by **TonyW** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 12:43 pm

I bought some of these a few years ago. They do take some pruning but eventually they lose their shape and/or start to get too big and dominate the surroundings.

The solution was, of course, to buy some more trees when Lidl had them on offer, dig up the old ones (and reuse them elsewhere) and plant the new ones.

jim@NAL · Post by **jim@NAL** » Fri Sep 12, 2014 4:56 pm

keep them in the pot thay stay small

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:12 am

At the moment, some shops like Wilkinsons are selling miniature real Christmas trees and they may serve this purpose as well

andymctractor · Post by **andymctractor** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:50 am

TonyW:104090 wrote:I bought some of these a few years ago. They do take some pruning but eventually they lose their shape and/or start to get too big and dominate the surroundings.

Garden Railways magazine had an *article fairly recently where conifers that had been hard pruned lost their shape with the top gettinng very woody. The solution, which I've not yet tried myself, is to pick a horizontal branch with the correct shape near the top of the trunk bend it upwards and bind it to the trunk in a vertical position. In time apparently the bend becomes permanent and the tree has a few more years as convincing lineside foliage.

Just checked and the *article is on page 68 of December 2009 Garden Railways.
'How to prune your dwarf Alberta spruce' by Nancy Norris
I expect much of the advice could be used for other varieties.

Peter Butler · Post by **Peter Butler** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 10:59 am

Top tip Andy... I will give that a try!

Soar Valley Light · Post by **Soar Valley Light** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 5:52 pm

As I understand it, Bonsai trees are miniaturised by pruning the roots back on a regular basis. I wonder if tree could be treated this way if the were kept in a pot or basket of some sort, dropped into a slightly larger container in the garden.

More research required I think. That may be a project for this weekend!

MDLR · Post by **MDLR** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 5:59 pm

Soar Valley Light:107074 wrote:As I understand it, Bonsai trees are miniaturised by pruning the roots back on a regular basis. I wonder if tree could be treated this way if the were kept in a pot or basket of some sort, dropped into a slightly larger container in the garden.

More research required I think. That may be a project for this weekend!

That WILL work - it's how we do it at Butterley! We now have small trees with INCREDIBLY thick trunks.....................

Joe · Post by **Joe** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 6:00 pm

Cant you plant a miniature tree still in its pot to limit root growth to keep it small?

Soar Valley Light · Post by **Soar Valley Light** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 8:32 pm

Hi Brian,

That's very interesting. How often do you trim and how long have you been trimming for? I really must get up there and have a look, it's just going to feel very strange going back there after all these years.

Hi Joe,

'Pot binding' might have some limited effect but never under estimate the strength of roots, especially tree roots. We spend a fortune at work every year replacing cess drains that tree roots have found, forced their way into and blocked. Most people with experience of any piped drainage system will tell you the same. For proof of 'root power' you only have to look at any wall close to a tree of average size or more. It's odds on that the wall will have been recently repointed or rebuilt or be in need of such. It's something that might be a suitable option for smaller, less woody plants though.

Happy gardening!

Andrew

MDLR · Post by **MDLR** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 9:54 pm

Soar Valley Light:107091 wrote:Hi Brian,

That's very interesting. How often do you trim and how long have you been trimming for? I really must get up there and have a look, it's just going to feel very strange going back there after all these years.

Every year and for over 20 years!

Soar Valley Light · Post by **Soar Valley Light** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 10:20 pm

Thanks Brian,

Is there a lot of pruning to do?

What sort of pot size are they planted in?

How big is the container that the pot sits in?

do they need special watering ?

What species have you planted?

Sorry for asking so many questions but this has really caught my attention (can you tell!

). I'm definitely going to give this a go and want to gather as much information as I can before I start.

Andrew

MDLR · Post by **MDLR** » Fri Jan 02, 2015 10:29 pm

I think the easiest thing to do is to come up and see us! You really need to talk to Glenis Poultney, who is our Gardening Factotum!

Post by **philipy** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 2:23 am

I remember reading an article about Bonsai many years ago by a Japanese writer. The technigue they used was to remove the innards from half a grapefruit and plant the seedling tree in the shell. Then any roots growing through are trimmed off flush. Not sure how long the shell lasts though.

Philip

Soar Valley Light · Post by **Soar Valley Light** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 4:54 pm

Hi Brian,

It sounds like that might be the best option. I'm no where near being in a position to plant the garden yet (just got back in from completing some more enabling works for the terra forming to start) but I guess starting these tress off is something that can be done now and they can be planted up in due course. Is there a good day to catch Glenis?

Hi Phillipy,

I remember something similar, I think it was in a Ladybird book of 'things to do' about a million years ago. I think Mum and I might have given it a try but I seem to remember the grapefruit skin rotting away before the tree pushed out any roots! These were the days before plastic plant pots and such like so I'm sure there must be a suitable alternative out there now.

Thanks guys,

Andrew

Soar Valley Light · Post by **Soar Valley Light** » Sat Jan 03, 2015 5:27 pm

This may be of interest...

http://www.bonsai.co.uk/home.php

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