Tamarix any advice?

[BarrelOfOtters]

Has anyone got a tamarix? Just been gifted one (Tamarix Tetranda) and I'm unsure how hardy they are. It's only a twig at the moment....

I've got a sheltered spot with clay soil that tends to be damp all winter. Or a less sheltered spot that would give it drier feet over the winter. I'm in the North West.

It looks tricky!

Our neighbours have one, planted against the south facing wall of their house. It looks as if it’s been there a long time and reaches up to the roof.

They're apparently very tolerant of seaside breezes (I've seen loads in Suffolk) so my guess is that a less sheltered spot with drier feet would be better.

That's beautiful! Off to google it now

This say it is h5 hardy so should be fine down to -10

Apparently it doesn't like cold winds

This is our beast. I have no idea how old it is, but it was a mature tree when I moved in 11 years ago. It's a messy nightmare. The tree sheds leaves, blossoms and branches all year round, and it takes ages for the faded blossom to fall so looks brown and scraggly into summer.

But - it's worth it for the magical dark red before the blossom, and the beautiful pink when it flowers.

Ours faces north east and we have stony clay soil. That border is quite damp too. It is hardy, but one year the snow was so heavy it snapped one of the main branches, so be aware of that. And the trunk has split, but has been belted together for 3 years now, and it seems to be sound. We also get lots of dead branches underneath, so need to trim it quite a lot to keep it looking healthy. That may be because of its age though, and presumably yours won't get to that stage for years. And it regenerates from the main stem, so where big branches have broken off, we have delicate new branches.

I can't imagine the garden without it, despite all the hassle!

@whereiwanttobe omg that tree is beautiful and about twice the size of my garden!

I have 3 in the garden I live on top of a hill at 1,000 feet they are as tough as old boots. They do grow very quickly and get top heavy and then split ( my mother had one) so I take out branches and prune in the winter to allow the wind to blow through them rather than uproot or break them. They grow back new feathery branches almost over night. Wrongly or rightly I treat them like a large shrub rather than a tree.

I'd be surprised about that as they're all over the Cornish coast! When they grown too big, the council hack them right down and they still spring up again.