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To go or not to go ?
Gillian Hibberd
Posts: 3
Hi. Can anyone identify the plant in the attached pictures and do you think it is worth keeping. We moved into our new home in Inverness in the Highlands of Scotland last July and have a burn running through the garden. The far side of the burn is quite overgrown and we have just started thinning it out and getting rid of the brambles. The plant is deciduous and sits between two evergreen shrubs. I have also attached a picture of the plant taken last October. It is the plant overhanging the burn to the left of the holly.
Any help would be appreciated.
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Posts
could be a snowberry (Symphoricarpos)? hard to tell from the photos? if it is I'd remove it as it can get quite invasive
It doesn't look right for snowberry. Any chance of a close-up of the leaf? Has it flowered?
Hi Gillian & welcome
Love the natural 'water feature' in your garden.
Not sure about the mystery plant - snowberry is a good guess but I wondered if it's a spirea? The tangle of branches makes it look almost like a clematis or honeysuckle but I'm not convinced by that idea.
Try Googling some of the suggestions to see if you think any are right. If you can't work out what it is and whether it is worth keeping I would be tempted to cut that tangle really hard back now or (bearing in mind where you are!) when there is less chance of hard frost and see what happens.
I suspect you will get lots of regrowth which you may, or may not feel inclined to tame.
Enjoy your new garden - lovely part of the world
I think it's a very very old and tired snowberry. If it is you'll get some small pink flowers before too long.
If you don't want it cut it down and dig it out if at all possible - it'll keep trying to regrow so if you really don't want it you'll have to be thorough and tenacious.
However, it's good cover for birds and small mammals so it might suit your purpose to cut it hard back and rejuvenate it rather than try to beat it!
Gardening in Central Norfolk on improved gritty moraine over chalk ... free-draining.
I'd say snowberry too - it's sometimes planted for pheasant cover. I'd say keep it until you have definite plans for that bank. It has running roots so can be invasive, but by the same token will be helping to consolidate that rather steep bank. It's hard to kill so just cut it back hard for some younger and more attractive foliage.