Room to grow

Planting trees is like furnishing a home, says Dan Pearson. Get it right and they'll provide years of pleasure, get it wrong and you'll be forever kicking yourself

·    Dan Pearson

       成长的空间

种树就像装修房子。如果栽种得当,它们将为你提供多年的快乐,如果载种不得当,你将永远自责。

——英国观察家丹.皮尔孙

2009年1月4日星期日

Once again, I have been living vicariously through my clients and we have two gardens on site this winter that are allowing me the indulgence of change. One is in north London, as high up as you can get before going down again. The other is in the lowlands of a leafy south London suburb. Coincidentally, there are several things these gardens have in common as both are established but in need of a serious overhaul to set them up for the next generation. The garden in the south is a new build on the division of a site that previously had a lovely garden, and, though the house on the hill is only undergoing renovation, an extension into the garden has made almost as much mess.

作为代理人，我再次与我的顾客们住在一起，我们今年冬天的基地有两个花园，那使得我可以对自己着迷的东西作些改变。一处花园在伦敦北部，在你往下走之前，你可以尽管往高处走。另一处在伦敦南郊林木苍翠的低洼地。巧合的是，这两处花园有几个地方是相同的：它们都已建造好，但需要认真修整，以便为下一代植物作好准备。南面的那个花园是在一个基地的部分区域新建的，它原来有一个可爱的花园，尽管山上的房子只需整修翻新，但是延伸进花园的部分却几乎被搞得一团糟。

Both gardens are on clay, and you would not believe the quagmire that has resulted with the heavy rain leading up to Christmas and the churn that results when you add the combination of machinery and men. Though the tools of our trades may have much in common, builders and landscapers are very different animals. The builders are forever sprawling into whatever area they are given; the landscapers (and me) are trying to keep them at bay to save the soil and the trees.

两处花园都建在粘土地上，你不会相信那片沼泽地是由于一场一直下到圣诞节的豪雨，而那被搅拌过的泥潭则是由于推土机和人共同造成的结果。尽管我们这一行所用的工具大同小异，但是建设者和园艺美化专家是完全不同的人。建设者永远向着他们被给予的任何区域无限伸展，园艺美化专家（包括我）则试图不让任何东西迫近它们，以拯救土壤和树木。

Both gardens have trees in common and one of the first jobs we had to do before designing the spaces was to decide in which trees we would invest our futures. The advantages that trees bring to a site are manifold, but sometimes you have to make a clean sweep to save the best and allow room to inject a new generation to cover for those that are aged or sick or misshapen. Protecting the trees that remain is absolutely key and it is vital to cordon the area under their canopies if you are not to damage the roots and their long-term future in the process. A tree can take 25 years to die if disease gets into the roots or wounds in the bark. Fencing, barricades and fluorescent tape to keep the ground free of compaction are necessary tools in the territory that becomes the building site.

两处花园有些树木是一样的，在设计空间图之前，我们不得不做的第一件工作是：决定哪些树木作为我们将来的投资。有利条件是，运进基地的树是多种多样的，但有时候你不得不全部清除，将最好的树留下，留出空间补种新一代树种，以代替那些太老的，有病的和畸形的树。保护留下的树木绝对是关键，在它们树冠下那个区域设立警戒线是极其重要的，如果你不想在这过程中毁了它们的根以及它们长远的未来的话。如果病菌侵入它们的根或者伤害了它们的树皮，一棵树在死亡之前还可以挺25年。在成为建设基地的区域中，扎篱笆，设路障，装荧光灯带是使土地免于板结的必要手段。

Though we treat our established trees with kid gloves, it is amazing what you can get away with to bring new trees into a garden. Last year we hired a crane to lift some giant unclipped bays over a house because they were physically impossible to move by hand. It was quite a sight watching them sail over the roofs but the job they did for us once they were positioned in the garden was worth the expense and effort to get them there. They replaced an old Leylandii hedge that we had removed to give everybody the light they were missing, and within seconds of them being slotted into their holes the bays regained the privacy that had left everyone feeling naked when the conifers were removed.

尽管我们带着小孩的手套小心对待被确定的树，令人惊奇的是你可以侥幸脱下手套，将小树带进花园。去年我们曾雇了一辆起重机，将一些巨大的未经修剪的月桂树吊过房顶，因为它们实在无法用手搬动。看着它们平稳地滑过房顶真是一大奇观，当它们一旦在花园里定好位，我想花那笔钱让他们为我们所做的工作是值的的，值得将它们弄到那儿。它们代替了一片古老的冬青树篱，我们将它们移开，好给所有的人得到他们无法得到的阳光，然后在第二处载种地点将它们塞进洞里，月桂树恢复了独处，当枞树被挪开时，让所有的人觉得裸露无遗。

Although I was always taught that small trees acclimatise quicker to their new surroundings, I have also learnt when making gardens that monies applied in the right places are worth investing in a large specimen. Today you are spoilt for choice, but we will always check that the plants have been prepared in the right way to be moved as large as they are. Good nurseries will lift trees or root-prune them to establish a nicely fibrous root system. The density of hair-feeding roots allows them to take up nutrients and water in their first few growing seasons and not feel the change as dramatically.

尽管总是有人教训我说，小树适应它们的新环境更快，我知道在建造新花园时，要把那笔钱用在适当的地方，在大量的样本上投资是很值得的。如今你为选择树种搞砸了，但是我们还将经常检查植物是否是以正确的方法来准备的，无论它们多大，也要被移植。良好的照料包括拔起树或树根，对它们进行修剪，建立一个良好的纤维状的根系。毛发供应根系的密度使它们能够在第一个成长季节得到养份和水，而且不会剧烈地感觉到这种变化。

Though we are using this winter window to plant root-balled trees in the main, we also have containerised trees at our disposal, and these can extend the planting season considerably if you are prepared to move them while they are in full leaf. I prefer not to do this, but I do like the super root systems, which have been developed with a newish system that uses 'air pots'. These are perforated pots that work on the principle that when the roots hit the perforated sides where they are exposed to air, they branch to increase the root area. So far, we have had excellent results. Planting big will allow you to articulate space, like you might in a room with a well-chosen piece of furniture. Even quite a big tree is cheaper than a sofa and I do like the analogy of furnishing a garden. Buying growth is one of the few occasions when you really can buy time. You do need to think carefully about the wellbeing of a larger specimen, though. They do less well in an exposed situation, need additional staking and feeding and certainly considerably more water in the first three summers.

尽管我们主要使用这个冬季橱窗来种植根球树，我们还有箱装树可供支配，这些手段可以较大程度地延长种植季节，如果你准备在它们长满叶子时移动它们的话。我宁可不这样做，不过我真的喜欢超级根系，它们被发展成使用“空气瓦罐”的供养系统。它们是一些穿孔的瓦罐，它们是工作原理是这样的：当植物的根碰到了穿孔的一边，暴露在空气中，它们便分叉开来，增加了根的区域。这样，我们得到了极好的效果。种植大树将使你连接空间，就如你在一间房间与一件精心选择的家具在一起一样。一棵大树甚至比一张沙发更便宜，我真的很喜欢在一个花园里摆上家具。当你真的能够买时间的时候，买成长是很少情况下的一种选择。你真的需要仔细考虑一个更大的样本的好处，它们在一个暴露的环境下做得不够好，需要辅助的立桩，营养供应，当然在最初的三个月里还需要相当多的水。

大的供展览的树在那里确实遮住了小树，而小树将很快超过它们。小树在早年可能更便宜，更容易栽种和照料，但是它们在品种上也更容易得到。比如苹果，李，稀有的橡树，你通常可以在植物发现者那里找到它。

顺便说一句，它可以用邮寄发送给你。记住那句老话：“花一个铜板在树上，花一块钱在洞里。”这句话再对也没有了。在这1月开始的几个星期里，外出种一棵树，等待这一年的来到。在它的身上你可以投资你的梦，你的地位，以及单纯为了快乐，看到将来在成长中打上标记，而不是皱纹。

The large, showpiece trees are really only there to cover for the small ones that will all too rapidly catch up. Small trees may be cheaper and easier to plant and look after in the early years, but they are also easier to get in variety. Name an apple, a plum or a rare oak and you will usually find it in the plant finder rhs.org.uk/rhsplantfinder/plantfinder.asp. What's more, it can be sent to you by post.

Remember that the old adage, "a penny on the plant, a pound on the hole" couldn't be truer and there's nothing quite like getting out there in these first few weeks in January and planting a tree for the year to come. In it you can invest in your dreams, your passions and the simple pleasure of seeing the future marked in growth, not wrinkles.

dan.pearson@observer.co.uk