OOTS: Oh Christmas Tree


I always find that most outdoor large Christmas trees these days tend to look a little forlorn: the barriers which surround them (health and safety reasons? to prevent vandalism? potential opportunity for sponsors advertisements) don't really help and in daylight the strings of lights look like they're trying to tie the tree down rather than looking their magical best as they usually do when it gets dark.

This year, Chippenham's tree in the centre of town has been criticised as looking 'scrawny'. I thought it didn't look that much different to previous years, though admittedly there is something a bit strange going on to the right. As usual it's been decorated with ornaments made by local schoolchildren. I wonder if this is part of the scrawny problem? The tree's quite large, so the decorations look a bit 'lost' as it would have taken the children a lot longer to make sufficient decorations to really fill the tree. Perhaps we need a smaller tree with the same amount of decoration and then it might look more sumptuous?

Elsewhere, this year's tree at the Tate Britain in London has caused quite a stir because the artist responsible for it has chosen to install an unadorned tree. According to the BBC, Georgio Sardotti is noted for art which 'celebrates the power of nothing'.

I can see where he's coming from: perhaps we should appreciate the tree for what it is, rather than having to decorate it. His thoughts chime with my suggestion about us having living, 'celebration trees' when I wrote about Poole's festive tree controversy last year. I was also amused to read he used to decorate Christmas trees for a living, so perhaps he has a stronger reaction against all of that than most of us.

In contrast Claridge's have revealed their designer tree for this year and the one on display at Jenner's department store in Edinburgh is marvellous - they needed to remove the revolving doors in order to get it into the building. Meanwhile The Daily Mail criticises the Obamas for having a tree which took over four days to decorate during an economic crisis.

Perhaps my favourite finding this year was The Telegraph's video report on the world's tallest tree in Gubbio, Italy. However, whilst it is indeed a magnificent specimen, I think their report might be a tad exaggerated: 2,600 feet seems a bit of a tall story?

What's your neighbourhood tree like this year? Real or artificial? In situ or shipped in? Decorated or unadorned? Do post a picture and show us via Mr Linky on December's OOTS kick-off post.

Comments

  1. petoskystone13 December 2010 at 14:02

    claridges' tree is o.k.--looks more like sculpture for a shop window than anything else. but then, it's rather pink-y, while edinburghs' tree is a lovely shade of green!

    ReplyDelete
  2. The bike shed13 December 2010 at 21:31

    Not scrawny but a bit dull I thought

    ReplyDelete
  3. Janet/Plantaliscious14 December 2010 at 08:49

    Oh dear, that tree makes me ache to get my loppers out and give it a slight tidy - and I think you are right, more decorations would have been good. I love the different ways people approach decorating Christmas trees. I still remember the one year I tried to go "tasteful" - I bought some lovely new baubles and was aiming for white lights, modern baubles and nowt else. There was a rebellion, and we ended up using multi-coloured lights, every tree decoration we had and then my dearly beloved - egged on by his little brother - added an empty coke can. It might not have been stylish but every time I looked at that tree it made me smile remembering the decorating of it. I'm off out later, so will try and take some snaps if possible - there is a faint suggestion that we might have some sun today...

    PS WV = "crinstes", which seems christmassy to me...

    ReplyDelete
  4. VP14 December 2010 at 08:52

    Petoskystone - I did think twice about including the Claridge's tree because strictly speaking it's not OOTS, but its such a contrast to the statement in the Tate, I felt it was worthwhile in the end.

    Mark - definitely dull during the day. Haven't seen it at night yet.

    Plantaliscious - hurray! Let me know when your post goes up :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Esther Montgomery14 December 2010 at 09:52

    I'd like big public trees with no decorations. Or . . . just white lights (not bluish ones). I think the tree in the photo looks bleak because the wires haven't been hidden in the branches so, when the lights aren't on, it looks as if it's covered in cobwebs.

    My favourite public trees are the little ones in flag-holders over shops. I'm wondering if this is a comparatively local custom though.

    Esther

    ReplyDelete
  6. cottage garden farmer14 December 2010 at 21:55

    I'm developing a "thing" about so called safety fences. they rarely protect anyone from anything and attract every vandal from miles around to try and overturn them, just for fun. I'm sure your tree would be harmless without them.

    ReplyDelete
  7. VP15 December 2010 at 08:50

    Esther - those new LED white lights are quite a harsh bluish light aren't they. I prefer the small trees too - they're quite magical at night and do look good during the day too.

    The Cottage Garden Farmer - welcome :) Good point re the safety fences being too tempting for some people.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Janet/Plantaliscious15 December 2010 at 08:51

    Have just linked in my sad picture of a vandalised tree in Chipping Sodbury. Mind you, I also think that if you are going to have Christmas lights on trees and hanging above streets, you should keep them alight 24hrs. Not very eco I know, but is there anything more sad than a tree festooned with unlit lights on a grey day?

    ReplyDelete
  9. VP15 December 2010 at 09:05

    Janet - that's a poignant reply to The Cottage Garden Farmer's comment re no barriers being OK. However, I think whoever vandalised the tree in Chipping Sodbury wouldn't have let any barriers round the tree stop them :(

    ReplyDelete
  10. Phoenix C.16 December 2010 at 19:50

    The tree does look in need of pruning a bit to get it more symmetrical! Nice idea to get the schoolkids to decorate it. Maybe the tree decorating could be incorporated into cross-curricular activities in a creative way so there is more time to make more decorations? (Thinking back, I'd have enjoyed maths a lot more if we'd somehow included decorating trees in it!!)

    ReplyDelete
  11. richspen17 December 2010 at 16:05

    Gubbio, Italy - probably true within a yard or two.

    http://www.bellaumbria.net/biggest-christams-tree-of%20-the-world-gubbio-2010.htm

    ReplyDelete
  12. VP1 February 2011 at 08:34

    Phoenix C - good idea. Sorry it's taken so long to reply.

    Richspen - thanks for that and I now understand. I see it was done as an outline on the mountain rather than being an actual tree.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous31 January 2012 at 10:53

    If you wanted to see a good display of lights then you should have headed over to Melsham or Corsham. The lights there are done by volunteers, not the council, and it shows. Both towns (Melksham & Corsham) look magical, even in daylight, Chippenham however looks grimm and it raises the question "Why bother".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. VP5 February 2012 at 11:01

      Hi Anonymous - our choir performed (including me) at Corsham lights' switch on. Of course Corsham has the advantage of a narrower High Street which makes the simple displays there work really well. I don't go to Melksham very often, so can't comment on those.

      As for Chippenham, I do like the lighted real Christmas trees the shops have, the lights twisted around the street lamps and the simple outline decorations. I wrote about those in another post, so unfortunately you missed those.

      Delete

New comments are not allowed.

Your essential reads

That blue flower: A spring spotter's guide

Image
Spring is a prime time for blue flowers and my daily walks currently have several from the same plant family* lining the local footpaths. As I walked past the Donkey Field the other day, I overheard some children ask their parents** what the pictured blue flower was. It reminded me it's often mistaken for those other familial blues and this time was no different, as they said it was forget-me-not, instead of the green alkanet it actually is. As well as similar flowers, most of these plants are hairy in their nature, flower around the same time, and favour damp, shady places. Many of them are great for pollinators too, especially bees and this week's warm weather has certainly drawn them to these flowers. This makes it even more likely for these plants to be mistaken for each other and it's a great opportunity for me to put together a spotter's guide in case you find the same flowers on your outings. Staying with green alkanet, the key features which set it ...
Read more

Jack Go To Bed At Noon

Image
Last year this rather exotic looking flower appeared on mine and several other allotments for the first time. Having been stumped (again) by Mr Allotment Warden as to its identity, I rushed home to find out what it was. It's salsify, aka the marvellous Jack Go To Bed At Noon - named as such because its flowers always close by midday. Here you can see both open and closed flowers - making it seem even more exotic and alien than in the first picture. I think this must be the cultivated version because the flower in my Francis Rose Wild Flower Key looks exactly the same in form, but is bright yellow in colour and called meadow salsify . Its other common name is Goatsbeard, which must be a nod to the fantastic dandelion-like clock which forms the seed head. With 'parachutes' like those shown above, who knows how far our plotted plants came from. I rather like the photographic dissection of the seedhead found in this link . Salsify is edible: its lateral shoots and fl...
Read more

Red Nose Day - Gardening Jokes Anyone?

Image
The nation goes ever so slightly bonkers on Red Nose Day - hurrah! Previously, it's been very easy to join in - usually via a dress down day at work plus lots of people up to mad things at the station and in the office. Everyone smiling for once - it's a real feel good day and all in a good cause. This year's different - every day's a dress down day for me now - my friend L suggested yesterday that perhaps I could have a dress up day instead and whilst that's a good idea, I confess that ballgowns and tiaras don't really feature in my wardrobe: scruffy student's always been my favourite look. So my Red Nose Day contribution for this year is to compile a list of gardening related jokes. For each one (clean ones only please) you leave in the comments below, I'll make a donation of 50p to the cause. Here's a few for starters just to get you warmed up: Q Why do potatoes make good detectives? A Because they keep their eyes peeled. Q What did the grape...
Read more

Salad Days: Mastering Lettuce

Image
I've decided one of my salad challenges for this year is to grow as many lettuce varieties as I can, ready for the publication of my planned Factsheet* later on. The idea is to grow as many of the Tried and Trusted lettuce varieties last year's Salad Challengers helped compile, then provide a visual guide and as many lettuce facts as I can muster. So far I've found around half of those listed**. Then naturally whilst I was out searching - because such is the way with seeds - a number of other varieties found their way home too ;) A couple of weeks ago I sowed 22 varieties***. Just the simple act of sowing them has me intrigued. Why are some lettuce seeds black and others white****? They split into about half white to half black in my sample and as far as I can tell it's nothing to do with whether they're a type of cos, iceberg, or whatever. I sowed them indoors and popped them into a propagator on the windowsill. The soil's too cold outside for sowing ...
Read more

VPs VIPs: Derry Watkins of Special Plants

Image
Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Derry Watkins at her home, garden and nursery - the acclaimed Special Plants - just a few miles along the road from me. I first met Derry at one of her open garden days last year and was keen to find out more about her wonderful garden and running an independent nursery. She specialises in tender perennials and regularly goes on plant hunting trips to find new treasures, particularly in South Africa. As well as running Special Plants and opening her garden under the NGS scheme , Derry holds day courses at her nursery, hosts Special Tuesdays from April until September, lectures and has written a couple of books. How did you find your way from Connecticut to the UK? I'd started a biodynamic vegetable garden in Connecticut and we used to have people come along at weekends to help out. A particular young man turned up: he returned many times and at the end of the summer I married him. So it was all down to love? Isn't that the...
Read more

#mygardenrightnow: heading into summer with the Chelsea Fringe

Image
Ahhhhhh, that's better! I love walking through dewy grass in bare feet, not that there's much in the way of grass on my back lawn this weekend. My wild and woolly lawn has morphed into meadow of sorts this month, which even NAH admits looks attractive*. It's also proved a great source for my Flowers for mum project so far, yielding self-sown perennial cornflowers, lamb's ears, and lemon balm in addition to the blooms you can see. These originated from elsewhere in the garden, the ox-eye daisies must have blown in from the A350 nearby. * = he got very stroppy about the weeds aka self-sown foxgloves in the lawn one year, so he's come along a bit since then. Skimble's demanding to say hello to you too. He does enjoy the patio when it warms up. If the embedded video doesn't work try this link instead. The Nectaroscordum are a revelation. I planted the bulbs around 2 years ago, but it's only this year they've bloomed properly. The bee...
Read more

Make Use of Mildew

Image
On my garden patrol this morning I spotted some powdery mildew on a couple of my new Verbena bonariensis plants. I suppose it was almost inevitable as I prefer to grow my plants hard - this means no water for them unless they look absolutely desperate. This approach means plants root themselves more deeply and have a better chance of survival during spells of dry weather like we've had lately. However, it also means I run the risk of problems like today's, especially with any garden newbies planted late in the season. We've had a good drop of rain overnight, so this should help my plants survive. I'll mulch them later today to help lock in the moisture as it's water stress which encourages the mildew to take hold. I've also removed the infected leaves and sprayed the rest with a milky drink.* I'm also pleased to find there's a use for my infected leaves. Oliver Ellingham at Reading University has started a PhD - sponsored by the RHS - researchi...
Read more

The Resilient Garden

Image
  Part of Tom Massey's Resilient Garden at RHS Hampton Court I've been pondering VP Gardens a lot lately. Last year's drought conditions set me off initially, then our harsher than usual winter combined with this summer's flip and flop weather means the thinking continues. It's a huge topic which I freely admit I'm struggling to get my head around. Tom Massey's Resilient Garden  at Hampton Court recently  tackled this topic brilliantly and was a timely interlude which gave me much food for thought. There he encapsulated the detailed research he'd found which informed both his show garden and book of the same name. I think it's one of the most important show gardens I've ever seen. It's clear the way I garden needs to change so that I have my own resilient garden. I haven't worked out the exact details yet, but Tom's book plus a couple of others (see below), alongside the rainwater management handout from the show garden's  sponso...
Read more

Chelsea Fringe 2014: Shows of Hands - Episode I

Image
The gloves NAH used to build the raised bed . The effects are L to R, top to bottom:  Original photo, Warhol, HDR, Green tint, B&W, Posterize, Boost, Cross process and Sepia Welcome to Shows of Hands - my Chelsea Fringe project for 2014! As you can see I've been having a bit of a play around in Pic Monkey for my first contribution. You're welcome to join in between now and 8th June 2014. The idea behind this year's project is to highlight the tool most precious to a gardener: their hands. How do I take part? It's simple. All you need to do is take a photo of hand(s) in a gardening context and then share it via your blog or other social media (such as Twitter or Facebook), then make sure I know you've done so. I've set up Mr Linky below for your blog contributions. The Chelsea Fringe photo on the right sidebar links to this post, so you can easily find it again when you're ready to add your contribution. If you share your photo on Twitter, ...
Read more

Testing Times: Tomatoes

Image
  I've run a couple of tomato trials this year. The first is a revisit of the biochar trial with Oxford University I attempted some years ago (with a different organisation this time), and the second is a trial of a water gadget called Plantsurge which I was given to try at Malvern Spring Show earlier this year. Most of you have probably heard of biochar already and the claim that this inert, carbon-rich material can help soil fertility and plant health. The RHS information in the above link says results can be mixed, with reduced effects found in alkaline soils. This may help to explain the lack of difference I found in my previous trial as VP Gardens is on a lime-rich soil. Plantsurge is a different beast altogether. It's a strong magnet which is attached to a hosepipe as shown in the photo above. It's claimed that it softens water, with the result more like watering with rainwater. The higher nitrogen found in rainwater is thought to be beneficial to plants. Gardener...
Read more