Tibetan Cherry a great addition to winter gardens

Greenhouse enthusiasts may be interested to hear the opinion of one expert who believes the Tibetan Cherry is one of the best plants for a winter garden.

With its bronze, peeling bark, it can look great on a lawn or garden border, Graham Porter wrote in the Huddersfield Daily Examiner.

After about ten years, the western Chinese plant can grow to a height of five metres, making it suitable for large or medium-sized gardens only, he added.

Mr Porter had a word of warning for the placement of the plant, however.

He said: "Because the tree’s main feature is its winter bark, it needs to be planted where it will get the low midday sunshine on the trunk to exaggerate the effect of the bronze colour."

Good soil preparation is key to successfully planting the Tibetan Cherry, the specialist continued, as it does not like very wet or extremely dry earth.

One of the best ways to prepare soil is to use organic mulch, the Bristol Evening Post recently reported