Larix Kaempferi (Karamatsu or Japanese Larch)

A gorgeous tree displaying some of the brightest and softest of green needles. Very strokeable.  These go a vibrant yellow in the autumn and then drop off. They come back. A perfectly hardy tree from the mountains of central Honshu that can grow 30metres over 50 years.

Strange and beautiful. Not too strange to look at, having as it does some of the more typical ‘-ous’ features, being stickily resin-ous and producing pretty cones (coniferous literally means ‘cone bearing)

Beautiful for many reasons: it’s shape and texture being stand-out assets, but it also has some of the prettiest cones on a conifer we’ve ever seen. Clustered in, well, clusters and all pointing proudly upwards. They are jade-green and very delicate with an astonishingly pink top. Best combo since Miss Piggy and Kermit, we feel.

Onto the strange and final ‘-ous’:  for a conifer, the Larch is decidu-ous which singles it out rather among this big galloping group of steadfastly evergreen trees and shrubs. So, it is a bit odd in this regard and that’s another one of the reasons we love it. Zingy green from spring, its needles turn a radiant margarine-tub yellow in autumn and the whole shaggy coat sheds for winter as this pretty tree folds itself into a deep slumber.

Curvaceous (another –ous!) and slender in form it has springy and refined branches that spread horizontally and down, with soft needles drooping off them gracefully in waves. Perhaps it’s the seasonal rests which give it the added oomph to be as vigorous as they are, as for a conifer these ones do whoosh upwards at quite a pace establishing into very fine specimens with strong round trunks down the middle and a roughly conical, open-crowned silhouette.

Happy in any soil – clay, loam or sand, acid, alkaline or neutral – in an exposed or sheltered position facing south or west. Easy.

N.B. When clipping several plants with the same tool, have a bucket containing a 5% bleach solution and swish your blades around for 30 seconds between plants to sterilise them. This will help avoid the chance of cross contamination of disease.

As with all woody plants, plant high, exposing as much of the taper at the base of the trunk as possible. Allowing soil to accumulate round the base of a tree can be fatal. Keep very well watered when first planted.