Saturday 28 November 2015

The Golden Globe Award!

 One tree I would always make room for in a garden is a Malus (Crab Apple).
The one in Our Garden@19 is Malus 'Golden Hornet', which I planted after reading 
Rosemary Verey's recommendation in her book 'The Garden in Winter'.

Once mature, I have always pruned it to maintain the bowl shape you see below, in blossom...


...this photo shows it with fruit and new growth, that would have been pruned back during the winter.
We visited Highgrove Garden (sorry about the name drop) in 2014 and I noticed, in the vegetable garden, the Malus Golden Hornets ( Rosemary Verey advised Prince Charles in the early years) had been trained into a coronet shape.


I thought a coronet was a little too pretentious for here, whereas a globe would be acceptable.
Instead of cutting off all the new growth, I tied the majority in together to form the basic shape and then spur pruned the remainder as usual.
This picture shows the pruning finished with some of the old fruit still on, which is left for the birds during the cold weather.
The one drawback with 'Golden Hornet' is the yellow fruit turn brown during the winter. 


Looking better in the spring with some leaf growth...


...and even better when in blossom...


...which is a very attractive flower.


In summer the apples develop...


...the lovely colour from which the name is derived...


...thereby creating a Golden Globe...



...and some where to hang two bird feeders.


...The Golden Globe illuminated at night.


One of the joys of visiting other gardens, however large or small, is that they can be a source of inspiration.

We will be opening Our Garden@19 again next year for the NGS. Their yellow book is a great source of gardens open to visit throughout the UK.
What have you been inspired to create after a garden visit?

Please click on any picture to create a slide show.

22 comments:

  1. Ingenious Brian. What a fabulous crop of apples too.

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    1. Thank you Jessica, it is interesting to do something a little different.

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  2. Brian, we visited Highgrove a couple of years ago but cannot recall the Crab Apples, I wish I could but no photos were allowed. Your version is so interesting and confidently pruned, the birds must like the internal cover too.

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    1. It is difficult to remember everything when it is a timed visit with no photos allowed.
      The crab apple trees just caught my eye.
      The book The Garden at Highgrove, by P.C and Candida Lycett Green is an excellent reminder of this wonderful personal garden.

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  3. That is very effective Brian. I am always getting ideas from other gardens and gardening websites. :)

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  4. We received important advice from Rosemary Verey when we first moved to the Cotswolds and discovered that our ground was solid oolithic limestone with just a few inches of soil above. She told us to 'pick axe our way through it my dears' and then to fill the hole with compost - we were at a loss as to know how to handle the ground up until then.
    What a fabuous tree you have made - it looks lovely throughout all the seasons.

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    1. That must have been hard work creating your garden.

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  5. Love your crab apple, it looks really good with its fruit in the shape of a globe. Like you I nearly always come home from garden visiting, being inspired to try something new.

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    1. Thank you Pauline, I sometimes come home with to many ideas!

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  6. What a beautiful Golden Globe you have created, Brian. My concern would be how to reach to prune it in future - is it very tall? (I'm not good on steps and ladders!)
    I did a Garden Safari with a friend earlier this year and came home with some lovely ideas . . . and many, many plants! Oh dear . . .

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    1. It does require a step ladder to reach the top. We have to spend the winter planning those new ideas and where to put the new plants!

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  7. Isn't it glorious in full fruit?! I visited Highgrove with a group of fruit experts. There are so many fruit trees there and it was a very inspiring visit, although my abiding memory is of the Highgrove reed bed sewage system. This is what happens when we are not allowed cameras!

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    1. It is an inspiring garden and reed sewage system!

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  8. I can't think of a more beautiful way to train such a lovely tree - so perfect to have that rounded shape with all that round, golden fruit on it! Right now I mostly have to visit gardens via the web, and that has proved such a source of inspiration - not the ideas only, but also the encouragement, has been invaluable!

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    1. Thank you Amy, one of the joys of blogging is I think the ideas, inspiration and encouragement you receive. I did when I first started a blog.

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  9. Golden Hornet is one of my favourite trees. It is so reliable and the fruits last a very long time

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    1. Thank you for visiting Roger. You are right,every year it is covered with blossom and then fruit.

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  10. What a fabulous way to train a Malus.I love it.
    I have been to Highgrove a couple of times now. The first was when Prince Charles invited all the NGS County Organisers for lunch; that was a memorable occasion. It is a shame not to be able to take photos.

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  11. Thank you Chloris. I would imagine that was a wonderful occasion.
    NGS County Organisers deserve a treat, they are hard working volanteers.

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