With the sun dipping ever earlier over the horizon, early afternoon is currently the best time to enjoy autumn’s last colours.
Cotinus ‘Grace’, ungraciously floppy in response to the fertility of my clay, is nevertheless looking stunning, magenta-pink to orange-red. Cornus ‘Midwinter Fire’ (a notoriously iffy plant that so far seems quite well) makes the ideal butter-yellow partner, with coral bark that picks up the warm tones of the cotinus.
Sadly, a red-leaved Acer japonica is suffering terribly from dieback. Previously a beautiful specimen, underplanted with cyclamen and ferns, it was a highlight of the pond garden, contrasting with the surrounding greenery, an elegant form in deep bronze, bright crimson in autumn. Shrubs and trees with leaves that are red throughout the growing season, seem to pay in vigour for their attractive colouring, and are especially prone to dieback; oak, ash, maple and birch are susceptible too. The causes are too varied to list, but specimens tend to reach relative maturity and then die back from the twigs down through the limbs, eventually killing the plant. Cutting out affected tissue below the telltale staining inside the wood is said to help, but often the cause is below the soil, and in my experience, there is nothing you can do.
Looking on the bright side, I shall dig out the floppy cotinus, and replant with a new baby red-leaved acer. If it brings as much pleasure as the last one did for a decade, even if it too eventually succumbs to dieback, it will still be well worth the cost and effort.
Sadly, a red-leaved Acer japonica is suffering terribly from dieback. Previously a beautiful specimen, underplanted with cyclamen and ferns, it was a highlight of the pond garden, contrasting with the surrounding greenery, an elegant form in deep bronze, bright crimson in autumn. Shrubs and trees with leaves that are red throughout the growing season, seem to pay in vigour for their attractive colouring, and are especially prone to dieback; oak, ash, maple and birch are susceptible too. The causes are too varied to list, but specimens tend to reach relative maturity and then die back from the twigs down through the limbs, eventually killing the plant. Cutting out affected tissue below the telltale staining inside the wood is said to help, but often the cause is below the soil, and in my experience, there is nothing you can do.
Looking on the bright side, I shall dig out the floppy cotinus, and replant with a new baby red-leaved acer. If it brings as much pleasure as the last one did for a decade, even if it too eventually succumbs to dieback, it will still be well worth the cost and effort.
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