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Mahonia

NewBoy2NewBoy2 Posts: 1,813
in The potting shed
I have bought a Mahonia and did not read about its possible spread    250cms and height 400cms

Is it acceptable and easy to control its growth please and if so how 
Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.

Posts

  • nutcutletnutcutlet Posts: 27,445
    If you cut the top off you won't get the flowers


    In the sticks near Peterborough
  • bertrand-mabelbertrand-mabel Posts: 2,697
    We haven't had success with mahonia until this year. It is full of fabulous flowers. We have had it for about 10 years and it has been very reluctant to grow...until now. It is about 4 feet high and 3 feet wide.
    Have a look at


  • robairdmacraignilrobairdmacraignil Posts: 782
    The ones I have planted seem fairly slow growing and even the one that is longest planted is still just about a metre wide by a metre and a half tall with no pruning required. Maybe its because they have a fair bit of competition from plants growing nearby that keeps them from getting to their full size but I wouldn't mind if the ones I have planted got a bit bigger. The garden across the road from me has a fairly old one and I have seen its owner chop it back fairly dramatically and it has recovered to grow well again.

    Happy gardening!
    https://www.youtube.com/user/sustainableveg/videos
  • Balgay.HillBalgay.Hill Posts: 1,089
    I have a couple that i have never pruned. They get no feeding or watering, and they seem to thrive on neglect. I think they must be 8-10 years old.
    The tallest is about 8 feet tall, and 3 feet wide. It grew as a single trunk until it reached about 7 feet, then threw up quite a few branches from low down. It only flowers at the end of branches, so the extra branches have added more flowering points.
    Nice bright flowers when not much else is in flower.
    Sunny Dundee
  • wild edgeswild edges Posts: 10,497
    I hack the crap out of mine and they flower well and thrive. The main problem I have is finding a good time to prune. I generally wait until the birds have finished all the berries and do it then. They're great plants for wildlife. There are a few varieties which may explain peoples' differing experiences with growing them.
    If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
  • FairygirlFairygirl Posts: 55,117
    Mine is similar to @Balgay.Hill's description. A bit smaller now, as  I had to cut it back a bit, a few years ago, and it just produced lots of  new shoots lower down. Flowers were decimated this autumn/early winter with that cold spell, but all the shoots lower down, and therefore more sheltered,  were fine so we had some flowers there in December. Mine is either Winter Sun or Charity - the former I think.
    It's in beside a hedge and a holly and a laurel, as a shelter on the boundary from the wind. The small birds, especially blue tits, love all the little insects, and the sparrows love hiding in it. Berries for the blackbirds and thrushes too. I suggested it to someone who was looking for trees to fill a gap, and encourage the birds back in, due to a load of trees etc being cut down nearby. Nice easy shrubs.   :)
    It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....



    I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    I have a mahonia Winter Sun which I bought 6 years ago at about 18" high.  It's planted in a bed with poor soil and lots of competition from the neighbour's scrubby trees and shrubs on his side of the fence.   About 4 years ago it lost its head when one of their branches fell on it and I was worried for it but needn't have.

    It is now about 50" high and bushing out well but not with gay abandon and has flower spikes forming low down as well as thru the middle and top.  It's a great source of nectar for early bees but the birds have not yet cottoned on to the berries.  I've recently bought a mahonia Cabaret to add to that bed but am hesitating as more of the neighbour's branches have come down in recent high winds.

    The RHS website says you can cut branches back to 6" to renew vigour and increase flowering when lower stems start to get bare.
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
  • NewBoy2NewBoy2 Posts: 1,813
    My concern was that seeing the possible spread on the label that overtime it would block out the view down the garden to the open fields.
    FRom all of your comments I am happy to plant it and keep it under control

    Thanks all


    Everyone is just trying to be Happy.....So lets help Them.
  • ObelixxObelixx Posts: 30,090
    As it gets older and bigger you can gradually lift the crown to make the bottom half to two thirds bare stemmed and thus "transparent".
    Vendée - 20kms from Atlantic coast.
    "The price good men (and women) pay for indifference to public affairs is to be ruled by evil men (and women)."
    Plato
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