Just before I returned to France this month I received a sad email from my neighbour, telling me that my pomegranate tree had been destroyed in exceptionally high winds. It wasn't the first time that wind had damaged it, so I was hopeful that it might be possible to once more pull it back into position and strengthen its support. Unfortunately that was out of the question, as it had not been bent but completely broken off, and the supporting stake too. After under five years the tree had established itself as a beauty in spring (covered in bright orange/red flowers) and an excellent fruit source in autumn - kilos of fruit were processed last year. So it was very disappointing that the first garden task this June was to chop up and remove the old tree then see what could be done about replacing it.
My RHS "bible" tells me that a sucker can be trained on as a replacement for a main shoot... so that's what I will try. There are several suckers coming up so the roots are still active. This time it will get more support than it originally had! I've also removed all the bulbs which were planted around it, and replanted them in tubs instead. Let's give it as much chance as we can... soon I'll select the best shoot and remove the others, then get some fertiliser on it.
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