This Forum will close on Wednesday 27 March, 2024. Please refer to the announcement on the Discussions page for further detail.
Ideas please
Hi I have just had this conifer cut down today and want to make a feature of it and hang Bird feeders. There are a few crevices that I would like to put plants into and I intend to plant a small leaf ivy to climb up it. Can any one suggest plants for the crevices preferably ones that flower.
Last edited: 10 February 2018 13:39:05
0
Posts
Are these crevices on the actual bark of the conifer? If so, I don't think it's a good idea to grow plants in there. If I have got it wrong, maybe post a photo of the area.
Sorry can't get a picture to upload at the minute the crevices are where the trunk has split and grown into 2 separate trunks over the years the bark is still in place.
Last edited: 10 February 2018 15:16:15
If it were in my garden, I'd remove it.
It is going to be difficult . The soil underneath conifers gets very dry and short of nutrients. I assume what was a big conifer is no going to sprout again.
B***** conifers it looks like a dreaded leylandii to me. They are the Devils work .
I have a idea, get a chain saw sculptor to do some attractive tree carving.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=tree+carving+art&safe=active&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiFmorD2pvZAhXCLcAKHXyZDYgQsAQIsQE&biw=1294&bih=677
Well one can dream.
Last edited: 10 February 2018 15:55:45
'You must have some bread with it me duck!'
Conifer wood rots very quickly compared to other woods so that will become an eyesore .
If you don't want to take it all out now, content yourself with hanging a few feeders or baskets from it while it's still standing but don't expect it to make a good home for other plants. They won't appreciate the natural chemicals in the wood or the bark and won't be secure either.
Interesting stumps there. So you mean the gaps between where the trunk separates. You could try the following in the 3-4 gaps. They are all quite tough plants and will probably do well whether it is sunny or part shade. If you intend to grow Ivy over the trunks, it will become more damp and maybe not suitable for the free draining plants like Erigeron Karvinskianus.
Take a look at Campanula Poscharskyana, Lysimachia Nummularia, Cymbalaria Muralis, Corydalis Lutea and Prunella Vulgaris. All either trailing, sprawling and spreading low growing flowering plants. Many have a long flowering season too. I have not seen some grown in the situation you have suggested, but many only need a small section to start off with, just push them into very gritty soil into the gaps and see what happens.
It was a leylandii conifer. Hanging Bird feeders was our first idea that's why we left it that high and think a slow growing small leaf ivy. Thank you borderline I will look into the plants you have suggested.
When I bought my house, there was a row of conifers against the back fence, casting a deep shade over half the garden. I had the tree man cut them level with the fence (6ft), planted shrubs between them and seven different ivies, one per tree. I bought the ivies from a nursery called Fibrex, ivy is one of their specialities. The quality, packaging and price of the plants, and the customer service, were all excellent.
Thank you josusa47 I googled fibrex and have seen a few interesting ivyes on their web site.