A Magical Golden City in the Garden

In many gardens there are large trees. Sometimes some of them will break during storms or become diseased and have to be removed. Or some of the trees have gotten too big and are shading the garden too much. Think carefully before you start the chainsaw massacre ! If you have decided that the tree must go, you can choose to use the stub in many creative ways. Cutting the tree down to 12 or 16 feet and using it as a structure for climbing roses and clematis is one of my favorite ways to make good use of the the tree. My neighbors rave about the 18 feet tall cascading arvensis 'Splendens'rose in the front yard, climbing the 16 tall cut down larch tree. It blooms with thousands of roses in june. In may/early june before the rose blooms, Clematis Montana 'Rubens' also put out a spectacular display of flowers.



If the tree is cut down to 2 feet, one can save the tiresome or expensive work by professionals to have the stub and roots either dug up, pulled up or grinded away below soil level. If one knows how to operate a chainsaw( Including all the safety measures and wearing the correct protective gear!), the stub can be carved into a "miniature city". Successive cuts are made to carve out the "houses" - and angular cuts are later made to make the "roofs" on the small houses. The "rooftops" are painted with gold paint and the result is surprising and stunning. Especially if you have a woodland garden or a shade area - people will walk the garden and the golden "rooftops" will reflect the light in many angles creating the illusion of a: magical golden city in the garden