Salty Sam’s Fun Blog for Children
Number 507
Shrubs in Tubs
Hello Everyone
November is here and we are coming into the tree planting season.
The dormant (sleeping) time for trees is winter.
l have a question for you.
What is the difference between a shrub and a tree?
Well, the answer is that a shrub has many stems and a tree has one (usually). And of course, this stem is called a trunk.
But if you ‘lift the canopy’ of a shrub it can very much look like a tree.
Lifting a canopy means shaping a shrub so that it has its upper branches only.
Some people like to do this in their garden so that they can gain a feeling of more space in the garden.
lt also gives children more space to run around in.
Gardeners may even want the extra room created underneath to plant more flowers.
lf you have a dense canopy in a shrub like a laurel, then you will need to plant flowers underneath that like to grow in shade.
lf you let a ceanothus grow very tall, it will look like a bright blue tree! This is because this shrub is covered in blue flowers in the springtime. Later, when the leaves grow, it will become a dark green colour.
lf you would like to have a bright red tree in your garden, there are Japanese maples that become a brilliant red in the autumn when their leaves change colour.
The best one is thought to be Acer palmatum Osakazuki.
You don’t have to remember this name. You just have to write it down to remind yourself what to ask for when you go shopping.
Sweet gums can have very red leaves in the autumn too.
You might also like to know the name of a Japanese maple that turns a bright yellow as well. lt is Acer palmatum Sango-kaku.
A shrub that can grow as tall as a tree that is bright yellow is Genista aetnensis.
lf you like the thought of a white tree, salix alba does very well near water and cornus controversa variegata is good for a small garden. lt has a lot of white on its leaves too.
Wisteria is usually grown up a wall to support its climbing habit. But you can make wisteria look like a tree standing in the middle of the lawn if you prune back the long shoots to create the spurs that carry the blooms. lt will grown wide and low and look like a bright purple tree. Wisterias can also have beautiful, white flowers that look like falling snow flakes.
lf you like the thought of a really light, bright green tree in your garden, robinia is a very pretty tree to have. lt has lovely leaves.
Growing plants with light-coloured leaves can really brighten a dark garden or a dark corner of a garden.
lf you would like a darker colour to contrast with all these light coloured ones, you can get plants with dark plum-coloured leaves like pittosporum tenuifolium Tom Thumb or prunus cerasifera Nigra.
Alba means white and nigra means black in the plant world.
lf you find January and February dull and depressing and would like to see early signs of spring in your garden, there is nothing brighter than the winter flowering acacia dealbata with its zingy, acid-yellow flowers. This tree grows very tall.
Winter flowering cherry has a pale delicate blossom and so do cherry plum and blackthorn/sloe which are usually grown as hedgerow trees but can be grown in gardens too to attract wildlife.
Crab apples show leaves early, so do willows.
Witch hazel has very early flowers. These flowers have a strong scent and an interesting shape and come in a variety of colours.
Trees and shrubs can really be as colourful as flowers.
lf you have nothing but a small courtyard to garden in, like many of the cottages in Rocky Bay down by the harbour, many shrubs can be grown in large pots.
But if you want to use a container as large as a dustbin or old wheelie bin that has seen better days, don’t forget to weigh it down with bricks or something similar in the base otherwise it will tip over if it becomes too top heavy or the wind blows strongly.
Shrubs to grow for butterflies and bees are:
Ceanothus
Cotoneaster
Daphne
Escallonia
Hypericum
Lavandula
Ribes
Tamarix
Weigela
They have flowers and/or berries that attract wildlife.
One of the first rules of gardening is that you never plant, camellias, rhododendrons, azaleas or pieris in chalk soils because they are lime-hating plants. They cannot draw up nutrients properly and their leaves will eventually go yellow.
So if you want these plants in your garden, you can select a special compost to put in your pots called ericaceous compost.
lt’s name comes from the Latin name for heathers which is Erica. Heathers don’t like being planted in chalk either.
lt is also good for planting blueberry bushes in, if you want to grow fruit bushes in pots too.
Be careful that your pots are protected in the winter. Light snow can be up to 95% trapped air as it lies on the ground. lt can act like a duvet protecting what it covers. But frost can damage plants a lot and plants in pots are more susceptible to the cold because their roots can be near the sides of your pot rather than tucked under the ground.
lf a pot needs moving and it is very heavy, get someone to help you. You don’t want to hurt yourself or have anything fall over on top of you!
lf you like my blog, please support it by telling all your friends and followers about it.
Thank you!
And see you again next Fun Friday!
Love and kisses
Salty Sam
www.christina-sinclair.com
Bill and Bob’s Joke of the Week
Bill: Why was the pine tree in trouble?
Bob: l don’t know. Why was the pine tree in trouble?
Bill: Because he was being knotty!
Salty Sam © Christina Sinclair 2015
Unauthorized use and/or duplication of material from this blog without express and written permission from this blog’s author and owner is strictly prohibited.
Links may be used to www.christina-sinclair.com
Picture Gallery
Acacia
Robinia
Witch hazel
THE SALTY SAM NEWS DESK
This week, Miss Pringle asked her class what they would do if they were sad and needed to give themselves a lift.
She wrote their ideas up on the board.
Go for a walk in nature.
Finish your homework and chores and go and play a game.
Watch a funny movie.
Have a nap.
Tidy up your toy cupboard and get your bedroom in order.
Eat cheesy mashed potato.
Paint a picture.
Have a hot bubbly bath.
Play with your pet.
Look up and watch the clouds.
Get a cuddle from your mum or dad.
Talk to someone or ask for help.
Drink a healthy smoothie.
Write a letter to your friend or grandma or granddad.
Dance with your friend to some music that you like.
Go unicorn hunting.
I don’t know who gave that last suggestion!
What ideas can you add to this list?
Oh, yes, and watching fireworks too!
Happy November 5th!
Remember the Firework Code –
Keep fireworks in a closed box and let only adults deal with them
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Quick Quiz
What are these things that can be found in the garden?
- s _ _ _ e
- h _ _ _ _ _ _ e
- r _ _ _ s
- u _ _ _ _ _ _ a
- b _ _ _ _ _ _ e
- s _n b _ _ s
lt’s the Weekend!
HOW TO MAKE A DOOR WREATH AND A FLOWER TUB FOR A DOLL’S HOUSE
If you have a doll’s house, I am pretty sure that the people who live there would love to have a tub of seasonal flowers standing outside their front door.
And to add a festive decoration to their front door, what could be better that a pretty wreath to hang up!
These decorations are very easy to make for nimble fingers and look very effective.
WREATH
- Crochet 15 chains into 3 lengths of green yarn so that you have a triple thickness of yarn
- Tie the ends together
- Leave one as a loop and tidy the others by pushing them into the wreath with a yarn sewing needle
- Add a bow of red yarn to the top of the wreath and sew it on with white yarn
FLOWER TUB
- First you will need to find a bottle top that looks like a flower tub
- Tie a knot into the end of a length of green yarn and sew into that to get you started with one loop
- Then just sew into the yarn again and again so that you get a loopy ball of green yarn big enough to sit in your chosen bottle top
- Put French knot red flowers into the green yarn to create a few blooms by winding the yarn twice around your needle
Please note that the material on this blog is for personal use and for use in classrooms only.
It is a copyright infringement and, therefore, illegal under international law to sell items made with these patterns.
Use of the toys and projects is at your own risk.
©Christina Sinclair Designs 2015
Quick Quiz Answers
- slide
- hosepipe
- roses
- umbrella
- barbeque
- sun beds
Embroidery Stitches
