There is nothing more beautiful than a flowering shrub
in full bloom, except maybe a flowering shrub in full bloom
that has been trained to grow as a single stem tree. Imagine
having a fragrant Viburnum Tree next to your patio or outside
your bedroom window, waking up to such a wonderful aroma.
Don't confuse what I am about to explain here with the
common technique of grafting flowering shrubs on to the tall
stem of some sort of rootstock. Grafting is very effective,
but not so easy to do. This is much easier. Not only that,
when you train the shrub to grow into a single stem tree, you
can end up with some very interesting plants.
Training a flowering shrub to grow into a single stem
tree is actually pretty simple. The younger the shrub you
start with, the easier it is to train. I have a friend who
grows thousands of Tree Hydrangeas a year, and this is how he
trains them. The variety that he grows for this purpose is
P.G. Hydrangea. (hydrangea paniculata grandiflora) This is the
one with the huge snowball blooms.
He starts with rooted cuttings and lines them out in
the field about 30" apart. The first year he allows them to
grow untouched as multi-stem shrubs. Being a fast growing
shrub, they typically produce 3 to 4 branches that grow to a
height of about 3 to 4' that first season. The following
spring he goes into the field, examines each plant and selects
the one stem that is the straightest, and is likely to grow
straight up from the roots if tied to a stake. He then clips
all of the other branches as close to the main stem as
possible. Then he pounds a stake in the ground as close to the
main stem as possible, and clips the tip off the single stem
that is left. This forces the plant to set lateral buds just
below where he clipped the top off, rather than continue
growing straight up. These lateral buds will grow into
branches that will form the head of the tree. He then ties the
stem to the stake. As it begins to grow, any buds that appear
below that top group of buds are picked off to keep the single
stem tree form.
That's all there is to it. You can use almost anything
as a stake, and just tie the stem to the stake with a piece of
cloth. I also anchor plants to stakes with a single wrap of
duct tape. I find that if I only wrap the tape once, the sun
will dry the glue and the tape will fall off by itself in about
12 months. " electrical tubing (conduit) also makes a good
stake, and is just a couple of bucks for a 10 foot piece.
You can do the same thing with an older established
shrub if you can find one branch that can be tied to a vertical
stake. The stem is likely to be crooked and not too smooth
because of the wounds from where the branches were removed, but
that doesn't mean that you can not create an interesting plant.
Some of the shrubs that make beautiful and unique
ornamental trees are many varieties of Viburnums, Burning Bush,
Winged Burning Bush, Red and Yellow Twig Dogwoods, Weigelia,
Mockorange, Rose of Sharon, and Flowering Almond. I'm sure
there are many more.
My favorite shrub to train into a single stem tree is
Harry Lauder's Walking Stick. In shrub form this plant is
extremely interesting with it's twisted and contorted
branches. The new growth is reminiscent of a pig's tail.
Using the same technique as described above I select a single
stem, tie it to a stake, and train it to grow as a single stem
tree. The effect is totally unique. Call your local garden
stores and ask them if they have a Harry Lauder's Walking Stick
plant.
Give it a try, I'm sure you'll have fun as well as
create some very interesting plants for your landscape.
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About The Author
If you have questions for Mike McGroarty visit his website,
http://www.freeplants.com and post them on the message board
where you can learn lots of gardening tips and communicate with
other gardeners. While at his website you can learn how to
start your own profitable backyard nursery. If you would like
a copy of Mike's booklet, "The Secret of Growing Landscape
Plants from Scratch", send .00 to: Garden Secrets, P.O. Box
338, Perry, Ohio 44081
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