Standardised Camellia

Camellias are wonderful flowering shrubs for the garden, but they also have many other uses. They can be shaped into topiaries, standards or espaliers, and they can even be grown as ground covers. At the moment standardised camellias are very fashionable, but they're also expensive. Don showed how simple it is to buy an ordinary sasanqua camellia from a nursery and in just two or three minutes turn it into the beginnings of a gorgeous ball on a stick.

Creating your own standard camellia

• Purchase one or more suitable plants at the nursery.
• Look for plants with tall, slender growth and branches high up on the stem. The point where the plant starts to branch out will be the beginning of the ball.
• Remove all the growth beneath the point of branching with a pair of sharp secateurs. Be conservative and remember that it's easy to cut branches off, but not so easy to put them back!
  
• Decide on the height of your standard. Look for the natural growth points and the balance of the height of the ball with the height of the trunk.
• Next ,cut out the tips. This will force the camellia to branch out sideways.
• Go over the plant trimming back side growth to form a loose ball. This will thicken up as the plant grows.
• Put a stake in next to your newly shaped standard and tie the stem firmly to the stake in several places using budding tape (available at nurseries, hardware and produce stores). The trunk is easily broken and so needs extra support.
• After around 18 months growth the camellia will need reshaping and forming. Trim back to maintain a ball shape. Any bare spots that show will gradually close over as the plant sends out new side growth.

Further information

Sasanqua camellias in 250mm (10") pots are available at nurseries for around $25.
Plants grown as standards are also available and cost from $65 to $150.

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