en nwin,.
Creatinganinteriorlandscape
’mgoodatoutdoorgardendesignbutflowerarrangements
ndorganisingindoorplantdisplays?Catastrophe.Myideaof
charmingfloraldisplayis a camelliain a shotglass.SoLiving
ecor, a bookdescribedas“amanualtoshowyouhowtoartfully
ntegrategreeneryintoyourspace”,is madetomeasure.
Usually,I findthesebookstoocutesyformytaste,butthisone
s actuallyaninstructionmanualthattellsyouclearlyhowtoput
rrangementstogethersotheylookbalancedandstylish.
Therearedisplaysusingmacramé(re-trendingaswespeak),
oncreteplanters,wireplantstandsandoldterracotta,withplenty
oftipsonbotanicalstylingfromauthorMariaColletti.Maria,a
horticulturist,is theterrariumdesignerandstoremanagerfor
theShopin theGardenat the New York Botanical Garden.
tropicaldownpoursarethe
norm.Also,it takessixor
sevenyearstobeginproducing
conesanddoesn’treachfull
productionuntilit’sabout40.
I canhearmylateex-mother-
in-lawhootingoverthat!
Analmond,ontheother
hand,soundsperfectforus.
Youcangeta self-fertileone
that’srecommendedforhome
orchardsandit’ssuitablefor
northernareasbecauseit
requireslesschillthanother
varieties.It growstoabout
4.5mtallby3.5mwide,so
that’s quite manageablein
anaveragegarden,andwillkeep
thePartnerhappy.It produces
heavycropsofsoft-shellnuts
witha sweetflavour,whichwill
keepmehappy.
I readuponpecanstoo,but
theycangetto20mwide,so
abovethePartner’spreferred
maximum.Theyquitelikethe
occasionalflood(that’sa tick
forus),andtheyliketolivein a
shelteredvalley(anothertick).
However,theycanliveforupto
1000 years,whichis notsuitable
forsomeonelikemewhothrives
onchange.If youdecideto
have one, remember that the
pecanis nota nutbut
a drupe(dreadfulword),
whichis a fruitwitha single
stoneorpitsurroundedby
a husk.(I knewthat...)
Wealreadyhavea
macadamiatree.It must
haveself-seededbecause
I don’trememberplanting
it. I likemacadamias,but
it’snotmyfavouritetree.
Theflowersandnutsare
lovely,butthetreeis not.
Thefoliagelooksprickly,
dried-upandhalfdead.
Macadamiaslikesoilrich
in organicmatterwithgood
drainage,plentyoflight,
protectionfromwindwhen
young,andaveragerainfall.
You’dthinkif yousupplied
allthat,it mighthavethe
decencytolookalive.
If you’reseriousabout
growingnuttrees,visitthe
NewZealandTreeCrops
Association at treecrops.org.nz.
nuts!
Takeyourpick– there
aremanynutsthatwill
grow in New Zealand.
Almondtrees
arenottoobig,
andyoucangeta
self-fertilevariety
that’srecommended
for home orchards.
Theflowersof
themacadamia
arefabulousand
soarethenuts,
butthefoliage
leavessomething
to be desired.
WHYIT’SA
GOODIDEA
TOSHELL OUT
FOR A TREE
