Agree nut. I enjoy the autumn colour on mine more than anything else I think, probably because I have one near my window and when I have the light on at night it looks really otherworldly. I've got a load of hard wood cuttings from mine this year. I can't get enough of them and the birds strip the berries from them very quickly. The tree they strip the berries from first is the Rowan. The minute they're red, they're gone, not the S. vilmorinii though, that's getting grafted over this year, I've had enough of it, it hardly ever sets any fruit, it looks sparse and wispy, it's a weird shape the berries that I did get are still there untouched. I've got a Sorbe, S. domestica, I'm going to have a go at grafting or budding that in the hope I can get some fruit before I'm too old to care. Not all the grafts took from the Edulis but all the chip buds took so maybe that's the best way to go and you get more for you efforts.
The birds are quick off the mark with rowan berries. I have S. hupehensis which berried very well this year. I thought the birds weren't interested then suddenly they found them and stripped it in a day.
I've never tried grafting and budding, everything comes from seed.
I might try some hardwood cuttings from the V. opulus, I never find seedlings about.
Which cultivars of Viburnum opulus do you two have. I am going to try and find the cultivar corns, it should grow tall enough to cover my fence. Our council plant Rowan trees in the streets and they make such a mess I've gone off them and never had one. In fact I've never seen birds eat the berries, maybe that is because the berries are yellow.
garden centres will sell all sorts of cultivars but the basic species is the best. This is what evolved naturally and hasn't been developed by man. Plants with large double flowers and no berries are pretty useless for wildlife.
If you do decide to get one I can recommend Buckingham Nurseries as reliable company. I think it's where mine came from, 20 years or so ago.
The birds are quick off the mark with rowan berries. I have S. hupehensis which berried very well this year. I thought the birds weren't interested then suddenly they found them and stripped it in a day.
I've never tried grafting and budding, everything comes from seed.
I might try some hardwood cuttings from the V. opulus, I never find seedlings about.
I found one, it was quite big, it must have seeded the first year after planting unless it was coincidence. (The stuff I've had come up that I just bought is weird, like some cosmic joke. .) There's loads of V. o. just a mile away. I live near Durham Wildlife HQ
Grafting and budding is really not hard. You have to follow a couple of basic rules then it looks after itself. You should give it a try if there's a variety of something you feel you made a mistake with then graft it over. You get a big head start on growing a new one.
Which cultivars of Viburnum opulus do you two have. I am going to try and find the cultivar corns, it should grow tall enough to cover my fence. Our council plant Rowan trees in the streets and they make such a mess I've gone off them and never had one. In fact I've never seen birds eat the berries, maybe that is because the berries are yellow.
Yeah, the birds won't touch the yellow ones, 'they're not ripe' as far as the birds are concerned. I think that's why they like the Cardinal Royal so much, it's very red.
Thanks nutcutlet for the website, have contacted Buckingham Nurseries, they and their supplier do not have a large Viburnum opulus, only 2 foot ones for hedging. Will try our local nursery, if they also don't have any, I will get the small ones and replace the roses in my hedge.
Sorry, mist the bit about you asking about cultivars. Yeah, as nut said, mine are wild, un-named plants. You could probably pick them up from your local nursery in the hedging section. They are in mine and come five to a pot and work out about £2.00 each or you can get them from Ashridge trees, Hedges Direct which is a sister site I think of Buckingham nursery or hedge nursery in potted or bare root plus many more as heeding stock for sometimes pence. Have a look around where you live though you can also probably find them in newer council plantings. I'm sure nobody would mind you taking some hard wood cuttings. Take them about 8-12" long and treat like like any other hardwood cutting.
If the rain lets up I'll go to our local garden centre in Derby. If they don't have any I'll go back to Buckingham Nurseries, they were very helpful. I couldn't wait for cuttings to take and grow to cover a bare fence. My wife is not very understanding, when she wants a fence covered she wants done then and there.
Posts
Agree nut. I enjoy the autumn colour on mine more than anything else I think, probably because I have one near my window and when I have the light on at night it looks really otherworldly. I've got a load of hard wood cuttings from mine this year. I can't get enough of them and the birds strip the berries from them very quickly. The tree they strip the berries from first is the Rowan. The minute they're red, they're gone, not the S. vilmorinii though, that's getting grafted over this year, I've had enough of it, it hardly ever sets any fruit, it looks sparse and wispy, it's a weird shape the berries that I did get are still there untouched. I've got a Sorbe, S. domestica, I'm going to have a go at grafting or budding that in the hope I can get some fruit before I'm too old to care.
Not all the grafts took from the Edulis but all the chip buds took so maybe that's the best way to go and you get more for you efforts.
The birds are quick off the mark with rowan berries. I have S. hupehensis which berried very well this year. I thought the birds weren't interested then suddenly they found them and stripped it in a day.
I've never tried grafting and budding, everything comes from seed.
I might try some hardwood cuttings from the V. opulus, I never find seedlings about.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Which cultivars of Viburnum opulus do you two have. I am going to try and find the cultivar corns, it should grow tall enough to cover my fence. Our council plant Rowan trees in the streets and they make such a mess I've gone off them and never had one. In fact I've never seen birds eat the berries, maybe that is because the berries are yellow.
I don't have a cultivar. Viburnum opulus is a native species of tree. This is what I grow and I expect Jim does as well.
http://www.bucknur.com/acatalog/product_10194.html
garden centres will sell all sorts of cultivars but the basic species is the best. This is what evolved naturally and hasn't been developed by man. Plants with large double flowers and no berries are pretty useless for wildlife.
If you do decide to get one I can recommend Buckingham Nurseries as reliable company. I think it's where mine came from, 20 years or so ago.
In the sticks near Peterborough
I found one, it was quite big, it must have seeded the first year after planting unless it was coincidence. (The stuff I've had come up that I just bought is weird, like some cosmic joke.
.) There's loads of V. o. just a mile away. I live near Durham Wildlife HQ
Grafting and budding is really not hard. You have to follow a couple of basic rules then it looks after itself. You should give it a try if there's a variety of something you feel you made a mistake with then graft it over. You get a big head start on growing a new one.
Yeah, the birds won't touch the yellow ones, 'they're not ripe' as far as the birds are concerned. I think that's why they like the Cardinal Royal so much, it's very red.
Thanks nutcutlet for the website, have contacted Buckingham Nurseries, they and their supplier do not have a large Viburnum opulus, only 2 foot ones for hedging. Will try our local nursery, if they also don't have any, I will get the small ones and replace the roses in my hedge.
Good idea. 2 foot plants will grow in no time and easier to insert into the hedge than big ones.
In the sticks near Peterborough
Sorry, mist the bit about you asking about cultivars. Yeah, as nut said, mine are wild, un-named plants. You could probably pick them up from your local nursery in the hedging section. They are in mine and come five to a pot and work out about £2.00 each or you can get them from Ashridge trees, Hedges Direct which is a sister site I think of Buckingham nursery or hedge nursery in potted or bare root plus many more as heeding stock for sometimes pence. Have a look around where you live though you can also probably find them in newer council plantings. I'm sure nobody would mind you taking some hard wood cuttings. Take them about 8-12" long and treat like like any other hardwood cutting.
If the rain lets up I'll go to our local garden centre in Derby. If they don't have any I'll go back to Buckingham Nurseries, they were very helpful. I couldn't wait for cuttings to take and grow to cover a bare fence. My wife is not very understanding, when she wants a fence covered she wants done then and there.