Monday, 27 May 2013

The only good place for a bay tree is in a pot (quote from ex gardening boss)

But we have one right outside what will be our back door into the garden. Very useful in this part of the world as shade but not a very pretty thing. It was originally one tree but in the many years since Madame had sat under it (remains of tiny seat underneath) all the suckers had sprouted to the height of the tree.

Today has been 'attack the bay tree with a chain saw' day. Of course, I find I don't have a 'before' picture. You never take pictures of the ugly things and by the time we thought of it, the camera was two stories up and we couldn't be bothered!

 
So here are the afters. We now have just the main original trunk, not the surrounding sproutings, and we have managed to manoeuvre the wild roses so that they climb up.

(We have also transplanted elder son's lovely gift of a Wedding Day rose so that it too can grow up the tree. The new owners of Le Calme are about to destroy the whole garden and we dug it up quick - but that's another story.)

 
 
We (that's the royal 'we', I did some ladder work but not the crucial bit) have also taken the top out of it so that we have a better view of the other side of the valley.

 
To me, but probably not to our Aussie friends, it has an Australian look about it? and is altogether a more elegant thing. (I hope, Sue, that it will happily thicken up - as I expect - and not give up the ghost altogether. We did cut off, and shred, huge amounts of it.)




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5 comments:

  1. sue28 May 2013 at 00:01

    Well how are you going to stop all the suckers re-growing then? Couldn't you plant an albizia or a Clerodendrum instead? I know, I know impossible to get it out so you might as well work with what you've got.

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  2. Rosie28 May 2013 at 07:40

    I know, I know but at least the new suckers will be tiny and manageable. And thug as it is, it stands up to the weather here and gives welcome shade. (Although it is freezing and raining again today so I can't think I'll ever need it :( )

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  3. the fly in the web28 May 2013 at 16:19

    I like old trees which have gone a bit wild...and you've kept its character.
    The roses will be lovely too...but what is it with people who buy a house with a lovely garden and then promptly tear it to pieces?

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  4. Rosie28 May 2013 at 17:39

    I'd call it 'restoration' or a voyage of discovery :-)

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  5. Kathy28 May 2013 at 23:44

    They do it with perfectly good kitchens and bathrooms too!

    I agree that it would have been a shame to get rid of a good shade tree, however overgrown, and I think what you've achieved will now be an asset to your new garden.

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