Using the lexicon of the Swinging Sixties, I was determined not to be considered “square” in my teens. My childhood passion for birds had taken a backseat in my later teenage years when the Beatles and girls entered my environment.
“Square” represented the opposite of “groovy” when the Fab Four entered the fray but more than half a century on, with birds at centre stage, the term has taken on a new meaning.
This has absolutely nothing to do with music. In an age where I am no longer able to do the twist, I now pursue a pursuit more appropriate for my age – gardening for birds.
Call me conservative if you like, but over the years I have weeded out all the exotic, highly-colourful species in my garden and settled for more restrained and less showy native plants. And by coincidence, the term “square” has cropped up again, this time in the context of how the garden spade should be wielded.
I’ve learned that square is finally “in” when it comes to planting trees. Don’t laugh at this old rocker, but round holes have been consigned to that place in history reserved for flared pants and a dance called the “hitchhiker”.
The latest fad from if not Carnaby Street but the botanical gardens of Britain suggests that trees and shrubs planted in square holes have a better chance for rigorous growth than those planted in round ones.
Traditionally, trees have been planted in round holes, perhaps because their trunks and the spread of canopies are circular. The little sapling rapidly starts growing new roots that spread out, giving an excellent early success. However, once they hit the comparatively poorer and compacted soil at the perimeter of the hole, the roots react by snaking along the hole’s edge in search of more ideal growing conditions.
Eventually, this spiralling action creates a circular root system, with the plants acting much as they do when grown in a container, especially in a hole filled with lots of rich compost. Once the roots mature they will thicken into a tight ring, creating an underground girdle that will choke the plant, resulting in stunting and even death.
According to Britain’s Guardian newspaper, systematic planting trials have shown that roots do not like growing round corners. When they hit the tight, 90-degree angle of the square hole, instead of sneaking around to create a spiral, they flare out of the planting hole to colonise the native soil.
I’ve used this revolution in planting techniques this winter while introducing ground-cover shrubs to give my garden’s superb fairy-wrens hiding places to escape harassment by a family of grey butcherbirds which have taken up residence in recent months.
I’m also using the same square-hole technique when it comes to planting native flowers – 50 years after the Swinging Sixties I still have faith in flower power.