IN THE GARDEN WITH JO: Rediscover the beauty of trees

This week is all about our Nursery Park, which is going through a pampering session before we start our series of emails and information about the mature trees and specimens.

Firstly, everything is getting a final trim and feed before the end of the growing season. We trim or prune each tree, where appropriate, so its form is correct before the wintertime kicks in. It’s still warm enough so there is no need to worry about that yet.

We then add a feed, not slow release as that is only wasted through the winter, but a simple boost to prepare them for the season ahead and whatever that brings.

Then we top dress each tree with a layer of soil conditioner and mulch to tidy them up and improve the condition of the soil and its ability to process the fertilisers we’ve added.

The park gets a good mow, strim and tidy up and the grass is collected. The paths get a layer of pebble to tidy everything up, it’s like your beauty salon trip before heading away on holiday — a good old fashioned pampering.

Our Nursery Park is the ideal place to pick your most mature trees for your garden. Our collection of trees is the largest available, and we have designed Caragh Nursery Park so that you have the room to view the trees in a parkland setting, giving you the peace of mind that you are picking the right tree for the right place and our horticulturists can offer as much assistance as you need.

We are currently working on our App to make sure that each and every tree has its own detailed description. The QR code on each tree takes you through to that page and everything you need to know is there, what its current details are and what its eventual details are, a picture of the tree from every angle and lots of handy tips, details of the delivery process and lots more.

So what kind of trees and shrubs do we have in the park — so many fabulous and mature trees that you won’t see in many places.

Lots of shaped trees and standard trees with beautiful heads and lots of shrubs in some of the most mature sizes. To name just a few, we have some fabulous Rhododendrons at over a metre in diameter. They are all Cunninghams White, which just happens to be my favourite variety with the pink buds that open up over time into stunning white blooms.

The beauty of Rhododendrons is that they don’t need a sunny position and actually are happier in a shadier spot, they’re evergreen so they have form and structure all year round and then reward you with a magnificent display of flowers in the mid Spring.

The ones we have in the Nursery Park are so very mature that they can be the starring role in your woodland or shadier side of the garden.

Another fabulous and hugely popular addition to the Nursery Park is some amazing full, domes of Photinia Red Robin that are absolutely the most ideal thing to act as a screen in the garden.

They stand at just over four metres tall and have been hugely popular. Every time we get another batch ready and one displayed in the park, they go out gain just as quickly. At €750 each they won’t be within everyone’s budget, but if you need something to fill a gap instantly, or screen a building, or even more likely to replace a tree or hedge that’s been taken down, then these are your lifesavers.

This is what we use them for and the addition of some lovely colour of the Red Robin just adds to the appeal.

Zelkova serata is a beautiful tree and the multi stems we have in the Nursery Park have such character, such maturity and presence. They would make a real impact in any setting, and we have three of them. At five metres plus they really are stunning at this time of year, especially as they are just starting to show their Autumn colour and boy do they look magnificent.

Arbutus unedo is also called the Killarney Strawberry Tree and the multistemed specimen we have in the Nursery Park really is very impactful. It is evergreen and it has a lovely berry that is edible, not the greatest tasting but edible all the same. This specimen stands at over four metres and three metres wide and really stands out all year round. Another beautiful Evergreen Specimen is the Magnolia Grandifloras we have in the Park. There are two of them, one has a clear stem with a lovely head, not really huge but definitely more than two metres diameter and the flowers are just finishing on these.

The other is a feathered , almost cone shaped from the base and it stands at over four metres tall, looking magnificent and these beautiful trees will grow slowly but up to 12 metres tall in the right conditions.

Their fabulous creamy white, massive flowers give off a wonderfully heady vanilla scent when in bloom. The list keeps going on but with cubes and columns of Yew standing at 1.5metres and 2.2metres respectively, shaped topiary and cloud form trees hand picked especially as stand out pieces. There are also Holly trees and a wonderful Cork Oak tree with its wonderful corky bark being the standout feature of this wonderful tree and so many deciduous trees that are anything from five to six metres right up to 10 metres. If it’s a different specimen or mature you want, then this is where you will find them.

The park is basically just that, a parkland setting with approximately 60-70 very large, mature, specimen and shaped form trees. We’ve added some benches around the place for you to sit and reflect on the trees and appreciate them in all their glory.

We just love all of the trees in there and hope you do too. Now with our new App you can have all the information on each one at your fingertips and we are just working on some very special additions to the App too, which I will fill you in on over the next couple of weeks. Until then lets hope the weather holds up and plenty an hour can be spent in the fresh air, in the garden.

Jo