Gardening with Gerry Daly: monkey puzzle

Common name: Monkey puzzle, Chilean pine, arauca

Botanical name: Araucaria araucana

Family: Araucariaceae, the monkey puzzle family.

The monkey puzzle, and other related species, are very ancient, often described as fossil trees. These trees have existed practically unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs, two hundred million years ago or more. The foliage and cones found in fossil form from that period are very much the same as the present-day trees.

Garden value

Only two species are widely grown, namely the monkey puzzle tree and the Norfolk Island pine.

The monkey puzzle tree, and its relatives, both living and extinct, may have once grown over larger parts of the world, as fossils have been found in the Northern Hemisphere.

Living trees are only found in the wild in Chile, mostly in out-of-the-way scrubby areas that are difficult to access.

It is likely that larger areas were cut down or cleared for grazing. The tree was unknown in Europe until the late 18th century, but over the next hundred years it became remarkably popular and very widely known.

The reason for its widespread popularity was its alien appearance. No other tree has such a defined structure of tiers of branches at wide angles to the stem, its bolt-upright straightness, and its remarkable spiny foliage.

The leaves are densely arranged along the twigs and last for many years before shedding. The young tree begins to form the whorled tiers from the beginning, growing one whorl a year and stretching up very rapidly in good soil.

It can make a big tree to more than 20 metres and should not be planted less than that from a house. As it matures the tree loses the lower branches, but if conditions are good, they can be retained longer.

If the tree is growing in competition with other monkey puzzles or other trees, it loses lower branches more quickly.

When about ten metres tall, it produces both male and female cones. The female cones grow to about the size of a melon, taking two years or more to ripen.

They eventually break apart or fall to the ground and break up, revealing lots of large seeds. These germinate readily, which explains why there are so many monkey puzzles around the country.

Unusual

The seeds are edible and they were used as a food source by native people. During the 1800s, following its arrival in Europe, the tree was unusual and sought after, especially as the private arboreta of the late 19th century were built up.

This strangest of trees from South America was a ‘must-have’ for any aspiring collector, and it was often planted as an avenue of trees, some of which have survived to some extent.

The monkey puzzle is the only hardy tree of the genus, being capable of withstanding minus 15° Celsius. But it does sometimes get frosted and killed as a young plant.

The other world-wide relative of the monkey puzzle is the Norfolk Island Pine, araucaria heterophylla, small trees being sometimes sold here as a house plant, called ‘parlour palm’. This makes a statuesque tree of very upright, tiered formal shape, a common sight in the sub-tropical regions free of frost.

Growing monkey puzzle

Eventually, when monkey puzzle trees produced copious amounts of seeds, the plant began to find its way to gardens other than those of the grand houses. They began to appear by smaller houses, taking up the garden.

The tradition of planting monkey puzzle trees as specimen trees is as strong as ever, with plenty of young trees started off in recent years. Some of these have been planted in places not large enough and the trees will be cramped or cut back.

Some will fail because the ground is not rich enough. Poor soil and wet ground cause the tree to grow more slowly, although it might have done reasonably well as a young tree. The branches die up from the bottom and eventually the top dies.

However, given good deep soil that does not get waterlogged this is a most robust tree. It is very resistant to even the most extreme coastal exposure, although it tends to look out of place.

Unlike many conifers, it can sprout from the trunk or base if the top is damaged. It is very resistant to pests and diseases, except honey fungus disease.

Garden plants are not completely helpless when it comes to defending themselves against weeds. They have various strategies that make it difficult for weeds to completely take over, though, of course, this still can happen when there is a significant mismatch and a small plant is simply swamped.

One strategy that plants apply to battle against weeds species is ground cover by withered foliage in autumn and early winter.

There are plenty of examples of this, but one of the best ground cover plants is the hardy geranium, geranium x magnificum. This hybrid geranium is very easy to grow with masses of flowers, dark blue with a purple tinge, in June.

For the rest of the year, because it flowers all in one big rush, it concentrates on building up for the following year.

The foliage withers, effectively creating an anti-weed layer. Not that you will never have weeds again, but they will be far fewer.

Trees, shrubs and roses

This is a good time to move deciduous trees or shrubs that need more room, or are simply in the wrong place, rather than cut them back. It is a perfect time to plant roses, both bush roses and climbers. The plants establish well from November planting and the choice of kinds is greater now.

Fruit, vegetables and herbs

Continue to tidy the vegetable garden and make sure to knock back weeds, not letting them grow over winter. Perennial herbs such as mint, marjoram, lovage and tarragon can be lifted, divided and re-planted, or simply planted out from pots to start with. Fruit trees and bushes can be planted now.

Lawn

The lawn should be mowed if the ground is not soggy. Grass growth was still active earlier this month and mowing should continue as long as possible. Sulphate of iron, should be applied if there is a lot of moss as it will develop even more during the damp months and it will reduce mowing.

Flowers

There is still time to plant up a few spring bedding plants and a few winter containers. These can be very effective when located close to a front door or gateway. It is much easier to make a splash in winter with a couple of containers than in summer when there are so many floral attractions.

Greenhouse and house plants

Discontinue feeding of house plants. Ensure that you are not over-watering house plants and allowing them to stand in a saucer of water. The roots will rot now that growth has markedly declined. Also make sure the plants are not too close to a source of heat such as a radiator or a wood-burning stove.