SLOW-GROWING TREES
Speed of growth is relative. Really fine miniatures and dwarf
trees are either truly pigmies or are so extremely slow-growing
that they will retain their proportions in the minigarden for upwards of twenty years. Other varieties can be considered to have
a "life period" for the minigarden; in other words, one variety
might keep within a reasonable size for the minigarden for ten
years, another might be suitable for only five years and so on.
The more slow-growing varieties are, of course, the most
expensive and start increasing in value from when they are about
two years old. Nevertheless, the less costly varieties from about
five shillings each will serve admirably for the newcomer and
there is no reason why he cannot raise his own specimens as
described in Chapters VIII or XIII. In any case, few people
would mind having to replace a tree of little expense only every
few years.
CUTTINGS
Growing trees from cuttings is probably the cheapest method
and one which can produce a finished appearance quickly. For
most people the garden will give just as much pleasure and joy
as if it contained a rare and expensive specimen, without any
undue anxieties about its health.
Irene Hyde, whose work I have already mentioned, used trees
from cuttings extensively. While she could produce exquisite
minigardens in bowls using choice and expensive rarities, she also
made prodigious numbers of lovely bowl gardens at an unbelievably low cost and for which she developed her own method of
raising her cuttings in potting trays so that she always had a
number of lightly rooted specimens in reserve. All conifers can
be raised from cuttings with the probable exception of Pine,
Tsuga and Cedar.
DWARF CONIFERS
There are dwarf varieties of most of the coniferous trees and
these have varying rates of growth. An extremely slow grower
might only be 5 inches high when it is twenty years old. The
extremely slow growers are usually the most expensive; they are
not at their best until they are about five years old and their
value increases annually. The selection below is representative
and includes very slow, medium slow, and slow-growing varieties;
all of them should be suitable for the minigarden for several years
before the quicker growing (and cheaper) varieties grow too
large for the garden. These trees can outlive human beings even
although they are so tiny.
Dwarf conifers are invaluable for the minigarden and provide
interest and colour all the year round, whether indoors or out,
and will flourish in quite poor soil, which must be well drained.
Some of them like lime.
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