I have had this plant a number of years and I prune it every autumn. During the last three weeks it has grown a great deal and it is overpowering its neighbouring plants. Any idea what it is please?

Looks like a Black Locust tree to me (Robinia pseudoacacia). Like a real Acacia its really a 'weed' tree and has nitrogen fixing bacteria on its shallow root system, (Also like a Birch). This enables it to grow...fast!!!...even in stoney unfertile ground. When its starts getting larger the roots especially become a real problem, especially since it suckers so freely from the rootstock.

Nice tree though I reckon but watch for those roots!!! Albizia julibrissin is an alternative to try if the Robinia gets too big - its definitely a lot hardier than its made out to be! (Survived -16 here for two weeks) and has delicate Acacia like foliage, although deciduous.

Many thanks for your help. I'll do a bit of research now I know what to look up. Yeah, it's certainly a fast grower, too fast for my liking. Cheers.

On Wed, 18 Aug 2010 18:56:18 +0000, thornyrose
wrote:


I have had this plant a number of years and I prune it every autumn.
During the last three weeks it has grown a great deal and it is
overpowering its neighbouring plants. Any idea what it is please?
Could be one of these.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimosa

"thornyrose" wrote

I have had this plant a number of years and I prune it every autumn.
During the last three weeks it has grown a great deal and it is
overpowering its neighbouring plants. Any idea what it is please?

Looks like Robinia pseudoacacia to me.
They have occasional thorns and bunches of creamy pea type flowers in spring
that have a sweet perfume.
If it is it wants to grow into a very large tree.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

"thornyrose" wrote
Sambo;897766 Wrote:
Looks like a Black Locust tree to me (Robinia pseudoacacia). Like a
real Acacia its really a 'weed' tree and has nitrogen fixing bacteria on
its shallow root system, (Also like a Birch). This enables it to
grow...fast!!!...even in stoney unfertile ground. When its starts
getting larger the roots especially become a real problem, especially
since it suckers so freely from the rootstock.

Nice tree though I reckon but watch for those roots!!! Albizia
julibrissin is an alternative to try if the Robinia gets too big - its
definitely a lot hardier than its made out to be! (Survived -16 here
for two weeks) and has delicate Acacia like foliage, although deciduous.

Many thanks for your help. I'll do a bit of research now I know what to
look up. Yeah, it's certainly a fast grower, too fast for my liking.
Cheers.

If you are in the UK you may have a problem with Albizia julibrissin with
our maritime type climate. Whilst it can certainly take cold in a
continental type climate, like a lot of plants, it does not like our usual
winters of daily up and down temperatures coupled with wet. Needs a well
drained soil in winter (i.e. not clay) with moisture in summer. Can't say
I've seen one at Kew.
The Silk Tree is certainly beautiful both in leaf and flower and worth a
try, probably turn into a large shrub instead of a tree here if it survives.
Easy to grow from seed IME.

--
Regards
Bob Hobden
W.of London. UK

Thanks for all your help. I've researched it and it's definitely Robinia pseudoacacia and, as lovely as it is, it's coming out. As they say, you learn by your mistakes.

I'd beg to differ Bob! You London types only 'think' you know the meaning of a real winter anyway! lol!

Put it this way, the garden that the Albizia is in, lies in the middle of a remote inland rural area on the bordering the New Forest. The microclimate is pretty dire with a short growing season and hard prolonged frosts in winter due to it being situated in a valley with forest oak, ash and beech trees on the southern, eastern and western boundarys with some tall hollies blocking the low winter sun. The clay soil is also saturated during the winter. I landscaped the whole garden 5 years ago. Last year, the first hard winter killed off a mimosa (Acacia dealbata) that was around 20' tall with a 13cm diameter trunk 1 metres up (Yes they grow fast, especially if you ameliorate the entire site with 60 tonnes of blended compost and install a groundwater drainage system). This year, with a wetter, prolonged cold winter all the green Cordylines were killed, not just the growing tips, the entire plants! These were around 6' with a 10cm trunk. Also a Melianthus was killed, roots and all. It got down to -16 on and off for two weeks, followed by prolonged wet and cold spells! Luckily the other one survived.

The garden does however get a lot of humid sunshine in mid summer.

The garden still looks great, as succession is taking hold, localised microclimates are developing and the valuable plants are starting to fill in. Trachycarpus are thriving, 7m tall Phyllostachys vivax with 6cm diameter stems, Chusquea culeou, Thamnocalamus crassinoides and loads of other rarer bamboos, Purple Cercis trees, Catalpa's, Japanese acers etc.

Now surprisingly the Albizia and the eucomis bicolor survive unscathed!!!

I think Bob is right, like a crepe myrtle, the thing probably will never flower in the UK as we don't have the length of season or temperatures, but it will survive pretty well given as much sun as you can afford it and protection from northerly winds! Either ameliorate the entire border it is going into or just plant it straight in the soil you dug out. Don't create a sump with a hydrostatic gradient and it will be fine!

I'm off to write a book...lol!

You could prune it down, plant it in a container & "bonsai" it.
Cheers Wendy
"thornyrose" wrote in message
...

thornyrose;897732 Wrote:
I have had this plant a number of years and I prune it every autumn.
During the last three weeks it has grown a great deal and it is
overpowering its neighbouring plants. Any idea what it is please?

Thanks for all your help. I've researched it and it's definitely
Robinia pseudoacacia and, as lovely as it is, it's coming out. As they
say, you learn by your mistakes.


--
thornyrose