In the garden: Planting trees that are storm-proof 

In the aftermath of the windy weather of late, that has seen lots of veteran trees the length and breadth of the country brought to the ground, we need to consider tree planting, what to plant, and where to plant moving forward.

Storm Éowyn was exceptionally fierce, with new record maximum wind-speeds of 184km per hour recorded at Mace Head in County Galway.

This is our new reality, and we are experiencing more storms, so we need to prepare and plant accordingly to ensure that structural damage is minimised and shelter is achieved to protect our properties and gardens.

There is no question that we need trees and that they make our environment a much healthier, greener, cooler and cleaner place to live.

We do need to be aware of what we are planting and where, taking into eventual heights and spreads to ensure the minimum of expensive structural damage.

Losing trees in storms is inevitable, particularly as they get older and are in the mature and over-mature stages of their life-cycle. As trees age and move into the over-mature stages, then they weaken, are not as vigorous, and are prone to colonisation by fungi, which will enter through a wound and begin to feed off of the tree.

Typically, larger trees such as beech, oak, ash, lime and sycamore can live for several hundred years. Smaller trees like birch, rowan and cherry have shorter life-cycles of about 70-100 years.

Beech are notorious later in their lives for developing rotten wood at the centre, with fungus called Ganoderma colonising, evidenced by bracket fungus along the trunk of the tree. These weaken the tree and ultimately result in its slow death, and strong winds like we got last week can result in toppling the tree, hastening its demise.

Fallen trees create opportunity in a woodland setting, opening up the canopy and creating space and light for another sapling to develop and grow to full size.

The same applies to our gardens, and while we will mourn their loss when they fall, it creates a new opportunity for planting and growing a different tree with different attributes in its place.

Keith Wiley and Hester Forde were the speakers at the Snowdrop Gala in Tullow, Co. Carlow, last weekend, and they both provided inspiring talks before a tour of Altamont Gardens, the ultimate garden symbolic of spring in Ireland.

Hester is a well-known plantswoman from Cork and her own garden, Coosheen in Glounthaune, is home to a wonderful collection of snowdrops, in addition to many other garden-worthy trees, shrubs, perennials, and alpines.

Hester spoke about the hardiest and favourite varieties of different snowdrops, and gave growing tips and tricks to ensure success with these spring beauties.

Keith Wiley gardens at Devon in the UK on a three-acre site and his style of gardening involves a lot of shaping and forming of the land, creating hills and canyons with unique microclimates which are then planted up with an array of plants from around the world.

He spoke about his favourite varieties of snowdrops, as well as his Erythronium, Roscoea, Agapanthus, Trilliums, Gladiolus, Epimedium, and Cypripedium collections.

He enjoys breeding and growing lots of different plants and he is developing different projects within the gardens at ‘Wildside’ all of the time.

Keith gardens at scale and is fearless in his design, creating magical, atmospheric and ecologically diverse gardens. Travel is central to his designs, with inspiration from all over the world brought back to his garden over the course of its development the last 20 years.

It was an inspiring and informative morning that whetted our appetites for the snowdrop mania that followed at Altamont!

The plant sale gets better each year, and of course the gardens at Altamont are a joy at any time of the year, and particularly at the beginning.

The gardens are OPW-run and free to visit, with car-parking provided which must be paid for at the entrance.

With all of the mature trees within the gardens, there was some areas closed off as some cleanup was needed after Storm Éowyn. The gardens encom about 40 acres in total, offering formal and informal areas with a river walk adjacent to the Slaney.

The gardens have adopted a Robinsonian style, with plants and nature to the fore, providing different ecosystems and habitats to suit different plants and trees. There are arboretum, bog garden, ice age glen, lake, formal lawns, beech walk and walled gardens all to be explored.

There has been some investment in the gardens and renovation to the house also over the last number of years, and this is evident as you walk through the gardens, with renovation and new planting good news for the future of the garden.

Located close to Tullow, this garden is becoming an annual destination for snowdrop collectors to gather and extend their collections of these most prized spring-flowering bulbs.

Plant of the Week

Keith Wiley spoke about the many plants that he grows in his garden from all over the world, and one plant that he mentioned which I had never heard of was called Shortia.

After doing some research about these plants, I found that Shortia galacifolia, or Oconee bells is a plant native to the Appalachian Mountains of North America. It is a low-growing (15cm) evergreen perennial found in woodland locations in soils with good drainage and high organic matter content. It is considered a fairly rare wildflower.

With a very pretty, delicate bell-shaped white flower, this is a plant I will be keeping an eye out for!