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BARKING UP THE RIGHT TREE

l In the bleakness of a barren winter landscape, specimen trees that sport army fatigues of khaki and cream or trunks of shimmery silver or copper are always a talking point. Arbor Day may have passed but it is never a bad idea to plant a tree, and the wetter months are the best time to do so.

l For attractive orange and cream bark on a small tree, plant the exfoliating chilean myrtle, Luma apiculata, once known as Myrtus luma (top left). Crepe myrtles ( Lagestroemerias) also have attractive peeling bark but with the bonus of bold summer blossoms.

l In the maple family, choose from Acer griseum, the paperbark maple (below left), which sloughs curling sheets like cinnamon quills; the striped snakebark maple, Acer davidii; or the coral-bark maple, Acer palmatum ‘ Sango-kaku’, which looks like its bare stems have been spray-painted red.

l There was once a time when crafty tree grafters produced ornamental cherry blossom cultivars with an interstem of Prunus serrula, the tibetan cherry famous for its flaking mahogany bark. Gardeners got the best of both worlds — shimmering bark in the low winter sun and a sumptuous spring blossoming — but, sadly, this habit appears to have fallen out of horticultural fashion. Prunus serrula does still flower, but its bark is much better than its blossom.

Country Life With Lynda Hallinan

en-nz

2021-07-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

2021-07-01T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thisnzlife.pressreader.com/article/282651805437910

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