I don't have a chainsaw...or an axe, but in my experience I have been on the chopping block a few times.
I feel for plants, particularly trees who are suddenly axed/cut down by humans. Tall poppy syndrome is something that most of us have experienced and it's usually the highly intelligent, clever ones that get cut for growing toward the light - something we naturally do.
I have a few tips for this. As any gardener knows, it's all about location, location, location. Where you plant matters. If you are going to be growing plants that like the sun in the shade, they are going to stretch their stems any way they know how, to get to the light. Why not do that plant a favour, and place them where they are happy, in the full sun?
Likewise our shade lovers, will shrivel and yellow in the direct sun and prefer to be covered, so shelter them like a mother hen. Tough bendy plants like manukas can handle a bit of wind so give them the space and room to grow and they will reward you with brilliant shapes.
Sometimes a plant will set seed and no matter what obstacle is in their path, once they've found their turangawaewae, they are going to grow. Your job, as a gardener, is to facilitate this potential and make sure that your plants are growing where they are happiest, won't be fighting each other, and are in harmony with the other plants. Sometimes it CAN be like herding cats at school. There may be times when you have to send a plant to the Principal's office to sort out. Or the sickbay.
But what you don't want to do is destroy a plant just because it blocks your view. Judicious pruning, grafting or taking cuttings can solve a lot of problems, and weed removal is ongoing, until you learn some new uses for weeds. After all a weed is just a plant in the wrong place.
Perennials need dividing before they become congested like traffic in Auckland. Get your animals to help you, too. They'll eat the plants you may not find so palatable. And you can always eat the snails if you have too many. Otherwise recruit in the ducks. Mum would love a duck, especially a peking duck.
Mum is terrified of trees that grow close to the house and anything she cannot control. I now understand why the Japanese bonsai everything. I once said to her if she doesn't like trees she can just move to Australia where they don't have many, and live in the desert or Coober Pedy.
You aren't supposed to say such things to your own mother, but then, there seems to be no limits on what a mother can say to her daughter. That's why I am glad mum doesn't have access to a chainsaw.
I hugged my trees when they were threatened with treeicide, even the cabbage tree that mum tried to topple just grew back in defiance. I would like to take a moment to remember all the trees that were axed and hold a little memorial service for them, as we don't know what we've got until it's gone.
