The strangest place I ever saw a monkey puzzle tree was in Far Easedale in the Lake District. I seem to recall it grew near to a climbers' bothy. I found this photo on the internet. I must check sometime to see if it is still growing in that rugged valley.
The strangest place I ever saw a monkey puzzle tree was in Far Easedale in the Lake District. I seem to recall it grew near to a climbers' bothy. I found this photo on the internet. I must check sometime to see if it is still growing in that rugged valley.
That is as it should be grown..remote. Magnificent specimen.
I used organic multi-purpose compost as a soil, @Blue Onion. I'm in Essex, UK, @Fairygirl. I appreciate a pot is not a right place for this plant in a longer run. But I just re-potted it to a bigger pot and I thought it would make it happier for some time. But the effect was just the opposite. @nick615@Silver surfer
It needs a soil based medium, as I said earlier. Compost is no use as it won't hold water well enough. If your garden soil isn't particularly substantial, it's worth buying one of the proprietary John Innes composts, which are soil based. They're readily available in GCs and DIY stores I think Essex is regarded as one of the driest parts of the UK, so it's quite likely that it's been dried out, especially if it's been exposed to a lot of hot sun for long periods. Once that happens, it can be hard to rehydrate plants properly. It's often a case of submerging the whole pot into another container of water and waiting until no bubbles appear. That means the whole root system and surrounding soil is moistened well. You'd need to check that the root ball is properly dampened, and pot into the aforementioned type of soil. That way, you're at least ensuring it's going to be happy over winter, assuming the roots are healthy and it isn't pot bound or similar. The pot also needs to have adequate drainage as well. I presume you aren't keeping it sitting on the grass though. If on hard surface, pot feet will keep it clear of the ground. A mulch of bark would also be good, once properly potted, but remove all those weeds first
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
It looks slightly less dense to me but otherwise little changed. What did surprise was that it's not alone. There are two larches near it and a huge fir(?) which towers above the stone barn. Further up the slope were two more handsome conifers but as daylight was fading I didn't go up for a closer look. Here's the big tree. The monkey puzzle tree is to the right, further back and is not nearly as tall as this tree.
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Except when they are 200 years old...then they are magnificent.
They are interesting conifers
Trees either male or female.
No flowers apparently until they are 50 years old.
Female trees
Male tree.
I used organic multi-purpose compost as a soil, @Blue Onion.
I'm in Essex, UK, @Fairygirl.
I appreciate a pot is not a right place for this plant in a longer run.
But I just re-potted it to a bigger pot and I thought it would make it happier for some time. But the effect was just the opposite. @nick615 @Silver surfer
Regards, Dmytro.
I think Essex is regarded as one of the driest parts of the UK, so it's quite likely that it's been dried out, especially if it's been exposed to a lot of hot sun for long periods. Once that happens, it can be hard to rehydrate plants properly. It's often a case of submerging the whole pot into another container of water and waiting until no bubbles appear. That means the whole root system and surrounding soil is moistened well.
You'd need to check that the root ball is properly dampened, and pot into the aforementioned type of soil. That way, you're at least ensuring it's going to be happy over winter, assuming the roots are healthy and it isn't pot bound or similar. The pot also needs to have adequate drainage as well. I presume you aren't keeping it sitting on the grass though. If on hard surface, pot feet will keep it clear of the ground.
A mulch of bark would also be good, once properly potted, but remove all those weeds first
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Here's the big tree. The monkey puzzle tree is to the right, further back and is not nearly as tall as this tree.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border