MAGIC WANDS

The weather has been a little depressing recently, but they do say the darkest hours are just before the dawn ... and there is more light each day, but just not the kind I like.  The plants are responding though, and shoots are shooting up, if you can see them through the gloom and drizzle.

The pictures on this page were taken at RHS Garden Wisley and if you want to be uplifted by a garden at this time of the year, it’s a good place to go.  You will see borders set ablaze by the vibrant stems of dogwoods, willow and rubus (ornamental blackberry) together with early blooms and wonderful, winter scented shrubs, such as Daphne, Viburnum bodnatense and Chimanathes praecox.

It’s only the young stems on willows and dogwoods that have the colour, so you will need to prune them hard in early spring to ensure new whippy growths for next winter.  Some species will tolerate being cut  right back to the base (like coppicing), others are not quite so vigorous.  I tend to just cut out a third of the older stems on Cornus alba ‘Elegantissma’, but am more ruthless with others,

The bottom picture is a tall growing bamboo - these are also striking in the stem department, but be careful which variety you choose.  Go for those that form clumps,  unless you own a panda, as they can be very invasive and hard to remove.