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Blog 1 - Discovering Witches' Brooms (21st December 2008) Witches’ brooms occur on many different woody plant species, especially conifers. They are mutations that consist of tightly congested formations of twigs and foliage, and are generally caused by pathogens and insects. When cuttings are taken from these mutations, new plants can be propagated, usually by grafting, and generally but not always, display the same characteristics as the original broom. Conifer collecting can easily become an obsession, and some collectors are so passionate about their plants they will often go out to the woods, forests and mountains looking for new witches’ brooms. We refer to these collectors as ‘broom hunters’. Many of the dwarf conifers available from garden centres and nurseries are derived from witches’ brooms, unfortunately many of these tiny treasures are not commercially viable to propagate and can only be found in private collections. Of course you don’t have to go trekking in the forests and mountains to find a witches’ broom, it’s just in these particular places there is a greater concentration of trees, therefore more chance of discovering a new broom. Luckily for me I live close to the New Forest in Hampshire, so this is my preferred destination when looking for brooms, but I have also discovered new witches’ brooms on trees for example, in school grounds, recreation grounds, a churchyard, and in private gardens. I feel obliged to add that hunting for brooms, especially in forests, does include a certain element of risk – on more than one occasion I have ended up flat on my face when I have had my eyes firmly fixed on the tree canopy above instead of the brambles and pot holes on the ground. The following photos are just a few of the brooms I have recently found and the subsequent propagations resulting from those brooms.  Collecting material from a newly discovered
witches’ broom in the canopy of a Pinus sylvestris (scots
pine) - New Forest near Burley, Hampshire.  A closer look.  This is one of two brooms I discovered as
the name suggests in Hurn Forest, which is
sort of between Ringwood and Christchurch
on the Hampshire, Dorset border.  A young propagation (3yrs) from the broom
above left – Pinus sylvestris ‘Hurn
Forest no.2’   This particular broom was shown to me by
a friend, and is situated in a Pinus nigra,
on the boundary of a private garden in Stockbridge,
near Winchester, Hampshire. A 4-5 yr propagation of the broom on the
right, I named this Pinus nigra ‘Keightley
Broom’, after Margaret Keightley, the
lady who owns the property that the mother
tree and broom is situated on. The photo
shows a nice contrast between the foliage
and the newly emerging candles in early summer.
  I could not get a good photo of this Ginkgo
broom because it was situated in the middle
fork of the parent tree and could not be
readily seen from a normal position, so the
only clear shot was from underneath. My original propagation is now about 5 yrs
old and named Ginkgo biloba ‘Everton
Broom'. The broom was discovered in the
small village of Everton near Lymington in
Hampshire.   Above - a small weeping yew (Taxus baccata) broom on an old tree in the grounds of Wimborne Minster, Dorset. It is very rare to find a broom in a yew. Left - A 2 year graft in my garden at Foxhollow. I named this one Taxus baccata ‘Minster Broom’. .jpg)  This Pinus radiata broom on the left is growing
on a tree in a sports recreation ground in
the Bournemouth area. On the right, a 2 year
graft provisionally named Pinus radiata 'Ferndown
WB'.   Left - This broom I found on one of a group
of large douglas firs situated in another
private garden, in Burley in the New Forest
last year. A one year graft from the broom, I named
this one after my new born grand-daughter
– Pseudotsuga menziesii ‘Katie-Jane’   This is a photo taken of a broom 5 years
after I originally found and propagated from
it. It was then a nice round open broom,
but has since deteriorated rapidly, possibly
due to the amount of leaf litter accumulation
as well as too much shade. Another possibile
reason for the demolition of the broom could
be a bird using it as a nesting site. Location:
Vinney Ridge, in the New Forest, Hampshire. Still, the resulting plant has turned out
quit well, not as slow as some, but still
compact so far, with a nice blue-green colour,
– Pinus sylvestris ‘Vinney Ridge’ | |
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