Authors
Tony Kirkham
Tony Kirkham is Head of the Arboretum and Horticultural Services at the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew, where he cares for the existing heritage landscape and woody plant collections and maintains the integrity and development of the living scientific plant collections. This latter responsibility has been the impetus for plant collecting trips to Chile, South Korea, Taiwan, Russian Far East, western China and Japan; many of the trees now growing in the collection originate from seed collected on these trips. Tony lectures internationally, runs workshops and has published papers on a wide range of subjects. He is married with two children and lives in London.
Timber Press: What advice would you give to someone who has never pruned a plant before and is interested in doing so?
Kirkham: First decide what it is you want to achieve by pruning the plant in regards to size, shape, flower, fruit, light, etc.
Get to know the plant species and find out how it grows and be sure that you know how you are going to prune it to achieve the right results. Buy a copy of The Pruning of Trees, Shrubs and Conifers by Brown and Kirkham.
Take off a little at a time, stand back and take a good look at the plant. Continue to do this until you are happy with the result.
Remember, once you remove a branch it can't be put back.
Make sure you have the correct, sharp tools to do the job.
TP: What would you say are the three most important things to remember when pruning?
Kirkham: (1) Timing of pruning (season), (2) knowing about the branch bark ridge and target pruning and (3) knowing what to remove to achieve the result.
TP: What do you believe is the most common misconception regarding pruning?
Kirkham: Many people think that woody plants have to be pruned when they don't need it and that any old cut, anywhere on the plant will do, and it quite clearly won't.
TP: How does this book differ from the previous one?
Kirkham:
- I have provided 53 new colour slides to illustrate modern pruning techniques and these are now spread through the text instead of left as a lump of black-and-white in the middle.
- I have changed chapters 1, 2, 3 & 4, bringing them right up to date with current thinking-for example, target pruning in relation to the branch bark ridge and the branch collar.
- I discuss why we don't use wound sealants or treat cavities. (see back)
- There is a new section on planning and TPO's (tree preservation orders), where there was no mention of these before.
- I have expanded the section in chapter 4 on pruning for wildlife-mulching instead of pruning to retain dignity, why we must leave standing dead wood and the importance of bats, etc.
- Chapter 5 on pests and diseases has been modified with several new diseases affected by or controlled by pruning.
- The main A-to-Z chapter (chapter 6) has been expanded with several new genera and many new species.
- The nomenclature is right up to date according to Plant Finder 2002/03, the latest Hillier Manual of Trees & Shrubs and Index Kewensis. I have dropped all the authorities to make it easier reading.
- There are more common names included in the index and a separate appendix with an updated common names/botanical names cross-reference.
- The glossary is ten times the size of the old one with many modern terms used today in the field of arboriculture.
Kirkham: George Brown's original work first published in 1972 is a well-recognised and respected book among practising professional horticulturists and arboriculturists and is still used around the world despite being out of date.
Most of the techniques were out of date, however the pruning techniques in the A-to-Z still remain the same today. There are years of work by George in this chapter which are recorded nowhere else and with some new inclusions and extras, no other work will rival it.
TP: When and why did you decide to make horticulture your life's work?
Kirkham: When I left school at the age of 16, I was a practical person with a love of the outdoors and nature, and interested in growing plants. I began a career in forestry nursery work with Tilhill Forestry Nurseries Ltd under the direction of Henry Jackson. At the end of my initial two years' training, he advised me to leave forestry and divert into horticulture due to the predicted recession in the forestry industry.
As I was still fond of trees, I followed his advice, taking up arboriculture. I went to the Royal Botanic Garden, Kew in 1978 to do a three-year diploma in botanic garden horticulture and learn more about general horticulture. I realised then that no one could ever finish learning about plants and how to grow them, and a career in horticulture will always be a learning curve and a challenge.
When I graduated in 1981, I was offered a manager's post in the arboretum at Kew, which I gladly took up and learned about trees.
I have now been at Kew for 25 years, I love what I do and enjoy going into work and getting paid for what I love. I still love to see trees grow and in particular to see them growing naturally and freely in their habitats in the wild.
