| Stooling trees and shrubs creates a multi stemmed effect to maximise the beauty of the bark. It is carried out in early spring, just as the shoots are breaking dormancy. Subjects should be cut back hard (just above the lowest buds visible) on the main stems. This should be done annually on plants such as salix, cornus, rubus and leycesteria, to maintain the attractive colour of the young growths. Many trees, such as betula, snake bark maples and eucalyptus, respond well to stooling when young. Birches in particular give very good results, as can be seen in the many multi stemmed trees which occur |
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naturally as a result of heathland fire or rabbit and deer damage to seedlings. Some trees don't respond well to stooling, expecially large leaved rhododendrons, such as Rh. thompsonii and Rh. falconeri, but their natural growth pattern usually produces a multi stemmed plant. Another way to get a multi-stemmed effect is to plant several single stemmed trees in one large planting hole, but this is less successful than stooling. There is also a risk of the trees tearing apart in gales as the central root system will be drastically underveloped, due to competition. |
