When I got Prince Charles clematis from Taylor's, I followed their very firm instructions not to water beyond initial watering in and let the thing find its own water source. It has proven pretty unkillable (unfortunately.. I dislike it)
@BenCotto In 1987 I was living in England. I remember being surprised at how huge trees had such shallow roots when they were sadly uprooted during the infamous storm. The answer from my father (not a tree expert!) was "of course trees here don't need to go deep in the ground because it rains so often".
It is an interesting question, but i disagree that it would be easy to prove. You would need hundreds of plants, in identical positions, to scientifically show any difference, because of the variability of individual plants. We all observe this every day, the same plants, next to each other, totally different growth habits. Whether we like it, or not, we are going to have to garden differently.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
I don't think you can really judge by clematis. They can play dead for many years and spring to life again if the soil is disturbed. Never hoik out a 'dead' clematis unless you hated it anyway. I have three Lazarus clematis with ideas of world domination. I suppose they spent the years in hiding developing a strong root system.Fortunately, they are ones I liked
Edit: Come to think of it - it didn't kill them and they came back stronger. Maybe there is something in it🤔
Of course this is purely anecdotal, but some of my fellow plotholders are from Cyprus. They too talk about English trees being lazy, and say in Cyprus trees root much deeper because they have to. They have been having 40 +C summers for decades.
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I think it very much depends on the type of tree.
It's a good question @BenCotto - is it how we think plants ought to behave?
Whether we like it, or not, we are going to have to garden differently.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/the-whispering-trees-180968084/
I have the book mentioned in this article and am now intrigued to read it!
I have three Lazarus clematis with ideas of world domination. I suppose they spent the years in hiding developing a strong root system.Fortunately, they are ones I liked
Edit:
Come to think of it - it didn't kill them and they came back stronger. Maybe there is something in it🤔
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border