monkey puzzle tree

celticbhoy27

hi guys seen a few of these trees dotted round the country in peoples gardens and i think they look great! any idea where you can purchase a young tree?

Sonnenblumen

Have you tried the zoo?:p
No, seriously any good nursery should stock them,eg Tully Nurseries (Ballyboughal), Flannery Nurseries (Donadea), Gardenworld Garden Centre (Kilquade).

Striking looking tree, very sharp leaves and slow but very tall growing.

slowburner

Sonnenblumen wrote: »

Have you tried the zoo?:p
No, seriously any good nursery should stock them,eg Tully Nurseries (Ballyboughal), Flannery Nurseries (Donadea), Gardenworld Garden Centre (Kilquade).

Striking looking tree, very sharp leaves and slow but very tall growing.

Intriguing trees but crazy expensive.

Ophiopogon

I hate these myself but just be warned they are very slow growing

slowburner

Bit like Marmite really.

touts

Why would you inflict that on future generations. They seem to have been very fashionable in stately Victorian homes. One estate I visited a few years ago still had the Monkey Puzzle tree 5 or 6 stories high beside the ruined shell of the house. I would best describe them as a vertical weed. Unless you have a landed estate and a mansion to suit I wouldn't go near the thing.

TheFatMan

Heard that these are almost extinct in their native regions.

Alun

I'm a woodturner, and you can make some really nice wooden bowls out of the trunks, lots of nice circular whorls where the side branches come out of them and some great colouring, but that's all that's good about them IMO.

http://www.google.ie/search?q=monkey+puzzle+bowls&hl=en&rlz=1G1GGLQ_ENIE368&prmd=ivns&source=lnms&tbm=isch&ei=s3fvTcnIBo24hAfU8-mTCQ&sa=X&oi=mode_link&ct=mode&cd=2&ved=0CBcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1280&bih=869

They can grow absolutely huge, and look OK in the right setting, i.e. grounds of a large country estate, but not in an anything near normal sized garden.

celticbhoy27

cheers for the replies guys, didnt realise they had such a bad rep though :eek: looks like i'll have to turn my attentions to something else so

slowburner

I was asked to plant some monkey puzzles recently. When the price was mentioned, the plan changed - quite decisively!
An alternative is the Irish Yew: taxus baccata, I think. T.B. fastigiata is the columnar one

jezko

From what I gather in the first 7-10 years they Grow very Slowly and most plants for sale in Garden Centres would be this Age hence the hefty cost.

If you have the space they are a lovely tree... as for the Cost ... have seen "Common" trees at crazy prices too.... You can find bargains out there too if you look for them....Seen them for 7 Euro.... Not bad for an exotic looking tree

looksee

In my youth, which was -ahem - quite a while ago, these things were planted in every suburban garden that had notions. I always thought they looked horrible. I have seen them growing in parks and very large gardens and they look ok mixed in with other trees, but as a specimen, no thanks! Apparently they (eventually) produce edible nuts, right at the top of the tree, so you have to wait for them to fall off to get them!

slowburner

looksee wrote: »

In my youth, which was -ahem - quite a while ago, these things were planted in every suburban garden that had notions. I always thought they looked horrible. I have seen them growing in parks and very large gardens and they look ok mixed in with other trees, but as a specimen, no thanks! Apparently they (eventually) produce edible nuts, right at the top of the tree, so you have to wait for them to fall off to get them!

I've a notion they don't produce an edible fruit in our parky climate. They are supposed to have evolved so that their lower branches fall off so that dinosaurs couldn't get at the fruit.

looksee

The only reason I know about the fruit is because I was on a tour of Mt Congreve gardens in Waterford where they have some Monkey Puzzles. The Gardener pointed out the fruit and told us about them.

slowburner

looksee wrote: »

The only reason I know about the fruit is because I was on a tour of Mt Congreve gardens in Waterford where they have some Monkey Puzzles. The Gardener pointed out the fruit and told us about them.

I bow to your superior wisdom
Did a quick search and found that they are apparently ideal for a temperate oceanic climate; western Scotland was mentioned, so it would seem our parky climate would be perfect. But I think you need both male and female trees in order to produce edible nuts. You'd be waiting a while for a feed - they bear fruit at about 30/40 years. The male tree bears cones which are for pollen production and are not edible - this is probably what you saw at Mt.Congreve. The male cone is about 4" long, green and looks like a pineapple - a bit like me, really.

looksee

Sorry to persist, but I am only repeating what the Head Gardener at Mount Congreve told us. They have a number of trees and he said the fruit/nuts were taken to the house to be served there as any other product of the gardens. The trees are very big and there is no way you could harvest the nuts other than waiting for them to fall, which is what they did.

slowburner

Clearly, there are both male and female Monkey Puzzle trees at Mt.Congreve then. It must be one of the few places outside Chile where they produce a viable crop. Did you get to taste one?
Thanks for the info

redser7

If you're still interested ...
http://www.adverts.ie/plants-pots/monkey-puzzle-tree-seedlings/658851

Tiffy6666

I wouldn't recommend it to be honest...

slowburner

Tiffy6666 wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend it to be honest...

Not unless you are very, very patient.

MOSSAD

celticbhoy27 wrote: »

cheers for the replies guys, didnt realise they had such a bad rep though :eek: looks like i'll have to turn my attentions to something else so

Great looking tree, I think, and a protected species in their native country. Remember the story of the ugly duckling?