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Help, I'm a newbie. Anyone know what this is, please?
malcjonesbband
Posts: 2
Hi, Folks.
Can anyone help me identify this 'wee beastie'?
i) It currently sits at the back end of my rear garden and is at least 25 years old.
ii) It is about 3.5 metres tall and about the same in width (the white tape marks my height which is 1.78m) (2 photos).
iii) Its leaves are all approx 2cm long and 1cm wide at their widest (2 photos attached).
What on earth is it?
Will it ever flower and if so, what do I have to do to to maximise the chances of helping it?
(Eagle-eyed viewers will notice under the base of the tree, the remains of the stump of a chopped down tree (an ex-eucalyptus) which was getting too high and I had taken down about 15 years ago. It probably reached about 10m.)
I live in South-West Manchester in an area where the soil is classed as 'loamy' and as I took the main photos I was facing towards an eastwards direction.
My amateur research thus far says that the leaves most closely resemble those of the 'Hebe Pinguifolia', but that plant doesn't get anywhere near as high or wide as my monster (1ft x 3ft I've read). Not exactly 12ft x 12ft you'd agree. Any other leaf patterns I've studied on the internet don't get anywhere close looking like my photos.
Unfortunately owing to my severe ill-health over the last 15 years, my gardens have been badly neglected and so this creature has pretty much had to look after itself. However, I am beginning to get much better and my gardens are beginning to look better. (Until last week, the under-branches of this tree went all the way to ground level, for example.)
Has the nasty ex-Eucalyptus had an effect on its non-flowering etc or letting the tree grow all the way down to ground level been detrimental?
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, especially if we could get this thing to flower that would be awesome. I certainly don't class myself as a gardener so please bear this in mind in your comments.
Many thanks in anticipation.
Can anyone help me identify this 'wee beastie'?
i) It currently sits at the back end of my rear garden and is at least 25 years old.
ii) It is about 3.5 metres tall and about the same in width (the white tape marks my height which is 1.78m) (2 photos).
iii) Its leaves are all approx 2cm long and 1cm wide at their widest (2 photos attached).
What on earth is it?
Will it ever flower and if so, what do I have to do to to maximise the chances of helping it?
(Eagle-eyed viewers will notice under the base of the tree, the remains of the stump of a chopped down tree (an ex-eucalyptus) which was getting too high and I had taken down about 15 years ago. It probably reached about 10m.)
I live in South-West Manchester in an area where the soil is classed as 'loamy' and as I took the main photos I was facing towards an eastwards direction.
My amateur research thus far says that the leaves most closely resemble those of the 'Hebe Pinguifolia', but that plant doesn't get anywhere near as high or wide as my monster (1ft x 3ft I've read). Not exactly 12ft x 12ft you'd agree. Any other leaf patterns I've studied on the internet don't get anywhere close looking like my photos.
Unfortunately owing to my severe ill-health over the last 15 years, my gardens have been badly neglected and so this creature has pretty much had to look after itself. However, I am beginning to get much better and my gardens are beginning to look better. (Until last week, the under-branches of this tree went all the way to ground level, for example.)
Has the nasty ex-Eucalyptus had an effect on its non-flowering etc or letting the tree grow all the way down to ground level been detrimental?
Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, especially if we could get this thing to flower that would be awesome. I certainly don't class myself as a gardener so please bear this in mind in your comments.
Many thanks in anticipation.
0
Posts
I can't see the wider shots well enough though.
Certainly not a Hebe
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
The spec also says :-
i) It can grow to 1m-9m tall. (Mine is about 3.5m.)
ii) It's compact as per my photo.
iii) It's a slow-grower (err...yeah...25+ years to get 3.5m high and 3.5m broad).
iv) The leaves are green to yellow-green (yep)
and 1.5-3 cm long, 0.5-1.3 cm broad (mine are 2cm long and 1cm broad).
v) The flowers are inconspicuous (enough so that the shrub ain't included in Dr Hessayon's famous 'The Flowering Shrub Expert' book that I have) and are greenish-yellow WITH NO PETALS.
vi) The fruit is a three-lobed capsule containing 3-6 seeds - YES! YES! YES! I have seen these on it (over the last 25 years).
So there we have it. It's from the Buxaceae family; Common Name: Boxwood.
WOW! Thanks you so, so much for solving this for me.
I am totally indebted to you, Sir/Madam.
Fantastic.