I feel your pain, my stinkin American bulldog pulled up a nice little tree that I transplanted out of the woods. It was doing great and then ding-dong ad to pull it up and eat it. Anyways, I would try to save it, I like oddly shaped trees though, lol. :rainbow-sun
It's not real thick, but it's not thin either, how's that for a useless description <g>. He talks a little about pruning in general, and then runs through a fairly comprehensive list of garden-type shrubs and trees grown in Britain, with thumbnails of their habits, cultural requirements and oh yeah sometimes a comment about pruning them too. It is a lot less about pruning than you would expect from a book about pruning
I like the way many British horticultural writers (as opposed to only a handful of North American ones) have a very distinct point of view from which they write, and are not afraid to express Opinions such as the garden merit, or lack thereof, of various and sundry plants. The few North Americans who write that way never seem to do it with as much wit or panache as the British ones, either, alas
Er, back to the tree in question, I hope it pulls through and your dog finds something else to play fetch and chewy-toy with
Pat, whose horses have now chomped off the tops of 2 of 5 laurelleaf willow saplings I planted along their fenceline, but it serves me right for not being more liberal and energetic with the fenced-in enclosures surrounding the saplings.
It's ok, Pat. I searched on Amazon and found a description that it is 1" thick (for the metrically challenged).
The book I read about pruning was thicker than that.
But, yes, I do enjoy the style of some garden writers much more than others. My favorite that I've stumbled on so far is George Schenk, who wrote The Complete Shade Gardener. Worth a read, if you haven't already. I'm not sure of his nation of origin, however.
I too just cant stand disposing of a plant.. the dog is now on a chain... for the moment.. till we can get an electric fence. but it isplanted in the corner of the yard by the kids play area. it hasnt done much.. and the one that I put in its place isnt doing as well as the other one did.. i will give it a month or so and see what happens. The darn dog just turned one .. digging is her new past time
It will probably take the tree a bit of time to muster the strength to put out new growth, if it has the strength.
If it makes you feel any better my ducks have been ripping up my corn seedlings. This after we had such cold weather I didn't think we'd get any germination at all. We are only getting sporadic germination, and now with the ducks . . . .
In gardening, I think you just have to expect a certain amount of losses, but that never makes it easy. :/
My DH and I went out tonight and the tree has lots of new little buds all over the trunk and a few on the one stem left. There is hope and it is growing during this season...
Take heart! My folks put in apple trees some years ago and someone, I won't mention any names, got hung up in the yard and slid right over one of them. Banged up that tree...Mom had to apply Bag Balm and strips of sheets to bind it up. That tree is now the largest and biggest producer she has! It is so much larger, it looks completely different. I've read before, that some plants and trees do much better after a shock to their system. This may turn out very well for you!