Fiendish Fuchsia Plan

I don’t know if any of you remember my comments of Tony’s Stump thread that I had my eyes on one of my dads large Fuchsia, well my cunning and devious plan came to fruition yesterday

My mum and dad popped around to see the grandkids and stay for Sunday Lunch and I just happened to be on the IBC (yeah, right!!!) and was showing my dad the wonderful show that the Wirral Boyz put on. Upon seeing the outstanding Fuchsia he said “I’ve got a couple of large ones of those if you fancy giving it a try”. “Bring it on” was my reply, the trap had been sprung!

So my question is when is the best time to lift one of the stumps next year and do these puppies need any sort of special care of soil??

Happy but Twisted,
Simon

They are pretty tough actually. Lift in spring and use your usual bonsai mix. They can be cut back really hard (most of the offcuts will root quite easily as well!) and will respond by budding back even from the oldest wood. Sometimes suckers even pop from below the root line, which can be a bit of a nuisance.

Hope you have one of the varieties that has smaller slender flowers rather than the big blousy ones. The smaller ones tend to be hardier, magellanica types.

Good luck.

Kev Bailey wrote:They are pretty tough actually. Lift in spring and use your usual bonsai mix.

Interestingly, as an indicator of just how hardy these beggars are, had things worked out as planned, I would have been spending a day or so this week lifting some now over on Islay, putting them into training pots (large plastic cattle feed tubs actually) ready to bring them back here in December. As it is, the proces is now delayed and will all happen in December and we are not expecting any problems with doing it then. This is acting on the advice of the locals, and while the early spring is certainly the optimum time, they forsee no issues with winter lifts. I am assuming this is mostly because Islay, like most of the Western Isles, gets little or no ground frost in the winter (in addition to all the good bits of being warmed by the Gulf Stream) and since the plants are already well accustomed to wind and sea spray, there is little that can hurt them.

Or is that too glib a reason? Thoughts please Kev and other fuchsia gurus.

I took a large one out with a pick axe and little care when our conservatory was being built. Once out, the stump at the base had some merit but no fibrous roots. I boxed it up anyway and it thrived.

Some roots remained in the ground and are now growing out from under the foundations of the finished conservatory!

Yous should do fine, Fiona, so long as you can keep frosts off them while they recuperate and then get them into a nice warm sunny spot once all danger of frosts has passed.

So that gives me a few months to con, sorry, coax the sweet old lady near me to part with the monster she has growing in front of her window!

Simon

Look forward to seeing your next project. My next door neighbour has a HUGE species Fuchia in her garden I may have to do some tactical asking too
as long as her reply is not "Fuschia be so lucky"

All the best

Andy

Thanx for the advice Kev and Fiona. I knew that I would get some sensible advice from you guys

I think that Tonys mantra of “Beg, Borrow or Intoxicate” could well bring the neighbourhoods of this great nation together. Long gone are the days of Love Thy Neighbour but maybe this could start a revolution (or is that a riot!!). Best of luck Andy & Steve

I’ve also “discovered” a small leafed, purple flowering Rhododendron that had been had been swallowed up by its larger cousins so I hope to lift that next year. Is it best to do this after flowering or maybe even now??

Thanks in advance,
Simon

I've always been told to lift Rhody's immediately after flowering.