Back in the day, people from my neck of the woods talked about gorse and broom in the same breath. After all, both were yellow, both were widespread and both were weeds. I never thought of planting broom until recently, when I was wondering what to use as a taller backdrop to a garden of grasses and rocks. Grevillea was uppermost in my mind because I thought the foliage would work with the grasses. I was looking for some in the garden centre when I came across pink broom.
Pink. I was sold. I bought five, took them home and consulted the internet to find out how to get the best from them. The Otago Regional Council’s website came up first. That’s never a good sign. “Broom is an aggressive plant which survives at up to 1500m above sea level and grows almost anywhere,” it warned gloomily.
As is often the case with researching things on the internet, I found there’s more to broom than meets the eye. Yes, it is a problem species in cooler and wetter areas of southern Australia and New Zealand, crowding out native vegetation. But it is one interesting plant, and its quirkiness will give me several excuses for growing something others think should be annihilated.
Not that you could annihilate it, even if you wanted to. Many brooms are what are described as -fire-climax species: they benefit when fires kill the above-ground parts of plants. It aids their root regrowth and germination of stored seeds in soil. Good to know that if it ever stops raining and our garden spontaneously combusts, the broom will regenerate.
Given the right conditions, pink broom can grow three or four metres high, although it’s more likely to do so in the south, where conditions are more favourable
Almost all broom likes sunny sites and sandy soils; in fact its dense, dark-green stems and small leaves are adaptations to dry growing conditions. It tolerates, and often thrives best in, poor soils and growing conditions, which is probably why it’s popular as a landscape plant for wasteland reclamation and sand-dune stabilising.
Species of broom popular in horticulture are purple broom (Chamaecytisus purpureus), Atlas or Moroccan broom (Argyrocytisus battandieri), dwarf broom (Cytisus procumbens), Provence broom (Cytisus purgans) and Spanish broom (Spartium junceum). Many of the choice garden varieties are hybrids.
The much-maligned plant is also a food source for the larvae of some Lepidoptera (buttery and moth) species, and on the Canary Islands it’s widely grown as sheep fodder. Should you be forced to defend your broom at social events, you can mention that the Plantagenet kings used common broom (“planta genista” in Latin) as an emblem.
Dyer’s broom (Genista tinctoria) was grown commercially for use as a yellow dye in parts of Britain until the early 19th century. The flower buds and ¬flowers of common broom (Cytisus scoparius) have been used as a salad ingredient, raw or pickled, and were a popular ingredient for a salad dish named salmagundi during the 17th and 18th centuries. However, don’t try this at home, because there are now concerns about the toxicity of broom, with potential effects on the heart and problems during pregnancy. Still, it looks great planted in the garden.
Bear fruit
It’s probably possible to have too many citrus trees, but they’re multi-functional, easy-going and adaptable. What’s not to like? We’ve run out of room for more citrus in our orchard area (eight limes, a mandarin, lemonade, four lemons, an orange and maybe a dozen tangelos), but there are a few more on my wish list.
Instead of squeezing them into the orchard, they’ll be planted as ornamentals. After all, they’re compact, evergreen, well-shaped; they have fragrant blossoms and fruit, and they respond well to pruning and shaping. Now’s a good time to add citrus to the garden, as new growth starts with the ¬first sign of warm weather, and slows down again when it gets really hot over summer.
Limes can be expensive, so it\’s worth planting your own tree
Thoroughly water a new tree while it’s still in its bag or pot, and let it drain while the hole is dug. Make the hole slightly larger than the container and deep enough so the tree will sit at its present depth. Dig too deep and the trunk could suffer from bark diseases. Plant it too high and the root ball will dry out quickly. Fill the hole with soil or compost and water.
Don’t fertilise newly planted citrus; feed regularly once well established. They thrive on regular doses of citrus fertiliser. Water before feeding, then apply fertiliser around the drip line of the tree, not too close to the trunk. Water the fertiliser in for best absorption. You can spray citrus with copper to combat verrucosis, but this common fungal disease is only cosmetic. It won’t affect your gin and lime one bit.
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Native ad body.
Native ad body.
Native ad body.
