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Special Plants Nursery (Chippenham, England)

Our third day was a busy one as we left our first hotel in Bath and traveled to Wells. There were several stops along the way, the first being Special Plants Nursery in Chippenham, England. It was a warm day. The nursery is owned by former Oregonian Derry Watkins, who moved to England decades ago when she married an Englishman. She is a plant collector and has traveled all over the world, her favorite place being South Africa.  That is Derry in the above photos talking to our group. The house and garden are located on a steep hill with idyllic countryside surrounding it. She says the garden was designed by her architect husband and she has filled it with her favorite plants, mostly tender perennials that she has collected from her plant-hunting expeditions. Most of the beds are terraced and many plants are grown in gravel. The garden is also enhanced with some striking ornaments - Lower island beds proceed downhill - A bog garden - At the bottom of the property is a woodland walk....
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Goodbye to the Eucalyptus


 
Another wind storm, another case of the leaning tower of eucalyptus. In the past, I have been staking it after leaning it back up but it has become so big that I think the situation was hopeless. And the new fence is in the path of destruction. In hindsight, I did not place this tree carefully. It is planted in the shallow bed of the terrace and a large tree doesn't look good smacked right in the middle of the fence-line anyway.

Still, removing it (and any tree for that matter) is painful. It is such a beautiful tree. Amazingly fast-growing, this was planted from a quart-sized pot only 4 years ago.
 
Look at how beautiful the wood is - sigh
 

 
Looking out the bedroom window from above shows the new view. If you look closely, you can see the stub of the bottom trunk which is still standing. It certainly opened up the view.



I now know of a much better spot for a eucalyptus along the side of the driveway although it will involve moving a hemlock. I will mull this over during the winter months. After all, they grow so fast...


Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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Comments

  1. Kris PetersonNovember 1, 2021 at 12:47 PM

    The removal does open up your view from inside, Phillip. I know it's hard to take down an otherwise healthy tree but Eucalyptus do need to be very carefully sited for the sake of safety. They're notorious for coming down in bad storms here in California, which was a factor in the decision to remove a very large specimen we inherited with our current garden (in addition to the complaints of a neighbor who claimed it interfered with her view, which is an issue governed by a local community ordinance here).

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  2. ksNovember 2, 2021 at 7:00 PM

    If you leave the stump don't be surprised if your Euc pops tight back up again in spring.

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  3. Lisa at GreenbowNovember 4, 2021 at 3:01 AM

    It is always sad to have to remove a tree. The more open view is nice. You have a lot of color in the garden right now.

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  4. Hoover BooNovember 5, 2021 at 10:22 PM

    Yes what ks said, they quickly re-spout from the stump--whether you want them to or not!

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