Scottish Rock Garden Club Forum
General Subjects => General Forum => Topic started by: mark smyth on October 27, 2011, 04:05:22 PM
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In fours hours today a new raised bed appeared in my back garden. It is a quadrant that is 10m x 25cm. I have enough walling to make another level bringing the height to 33cm. Does anyone think it's too shallow?
I got some quotes from local bricklayers and their quotes were the same, and more, than buying Secura Walling. The cheapest guy was £250. For £50 more I was able to buy enough walling blocks to make the new bed and edge the one I made in summer 2010.
The new bed will hopefully hold all my bulbs that are in pots. It may not happen but I want to resist planting perennials.
oops, just took a photo from an upstairs window and see one wall that is supposed to be straight isn't
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The next stage is to buy a ton / 900kg, maybe two, of soil which will be mixed with the contents of pots where bulbs have died.
After that the coping needs to go on to hide the edges of the walling.
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If you can raise it to 33cm , then I think that's a good move. 25cm is a bit too shallow, I reckon. It will look good, though, as a dry bed.
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Looks good Mark but I agree with Maggi 33cm high would be better. Is it an optical illusion or does the wall on the left hand site slope down to the left, and if it does might it not collapse in time once you've filled it?
I like the stone very much and am looking for something similar to replace rotting log roll edging round some of my beds.
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If you can raise it to 33cm , then I think that's a good move. 25cm is a bit too shallow, I reckon. It will look good, though, as a dry bed.
I'll do it on Monday when I'm off again
The new raised bed from last year looks better with walling blocks instead of being faced with concrete blocks. This bed is for my Colchicums nd Dactylorhizas
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David you are correct. The ground isnt level but not as bad as the photo shows
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Funny how these coincidences happen..... this week's Wisley Log shows the very smart new edges made there by Peter Herman using the stone that was gained by the dismantling of the raised beds to make the new crevice beds that ZZ designed...... Wisley had some log-edged beds that needed refurbishemnt too.... see the result....
http://www.srgc.org.uk/logs/logdir/2011Oct271319709952Log_11_of_2011.pdf
8)
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Mark, what are you using for coping?
Had a look at Paul's latest Wisley Log and that wallig is first class. Oh for the skill to lay it and the stone to lay ;D
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Well done Mark. You'll show it again as it becomes populated of course. :)
I'm really sorry to see how badly damaged your hands must have been for them to have fallen off altogether. I hope you are able to get emergency surgery and be back able to do manual work again very soon. :'(
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I'm really sorry to see how badly damaged your hands must have been for them to have fallen off altogether. I hope you are able to get emergency surgery and be back able to do manual work again very soon. :'(
Very thoughtful of you Lesley.... I hope no-one was too distressed by the graphic nature of the photo ?
I think that by the cuff-like skin flaps, it may be possible just to superglue his hands on again.....
I believe superglue is used extensively these days.....
[attach=1]
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Yes, I was going to remark that I was pleased his shirt cuffs may have offered some protection and that they hid what must be torn and mangled ends but I didn't want to distress other Forumists too much with overly graphic comments. ;D
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My hands are fine now, thanks for asking, but not my back especially after just driving 100 miles 150km return tonight to give a talk. A dull ache around the middle.
Of course I'll show it when finished. I have a Sorbus cashmeriana for the middle or off centre.
Best ever talk the people said tonight, Easy Alpines - how and where to grow them, and they want me back. What must the others be like :-X :-X
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I hope they gave you a decent fee Mark. :-\
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Mark, what are you using for coping?
Strong drink works for me! :)
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Yes Lesley they did.
David I'm using Secura Lite coping
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Mark, what are you using for coping?
Strong drink works for me! :)
Moi aussi, in quantity ;D
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The soil arrived today. Good job I didnt order 3 tons which I was going to do.
Maggi the coping stones will add another 10cm of depth
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Mark,
Good job. Looking forward to seeing it complete and planted out.
The Crocus bed of mine I set up a couple of years ago is 20cm (1 hardwood sleeper height) at the bottom level, then the other two levels would take the middle up to a mazimum of 30cm deep I think. I've had all my small bulbs thrive in it. If you're keeping yours as a collection, invest in some plastic mesh pots (i.e something with holes for roots to spread out, but too small for blbs to fit through). That has kept my bulbs all neatly clear of each other so that I can keep track of everything. I put a 'Red Pygmy' maple in the corner of mine, to give some height. Looks wonderful right now. The problem with something permanent is that roots then invade everything around it, which may or may not be good depending on your moisture levels and what you're planting etc. My maple worked as I planted it in the corner and tried to sheild the bed from it's roots, hoping that the roots of the maple will tend to go down into the ground below, rather than out into the bed too much.
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I was just looking at your pictures and wondered how you're going to lay the blocks with the soil in?
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I was just looking at your pictures and wondered how you're going to lay the blocks with the soil in?
??? ??? PDJ, the blocks are in place.
The plan now is to level the soil, very wet due to sitting in ton bags, add recycled pot contents, buy some bags of composted manure and fork it in. I'm off Mon, Wed and Thursday.
It's too late now to disturb and plant out pot grown bulbs - or is it? - but I have lots of dry bulbs eager to get in to the ground.
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I was referring to moving the blocks to mortar them. With dry bulbs I've always found its better to plant them unless the ground is frozen.
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Paul these are easy blocks to use and need no mortar. Each block fits on top of the one below and held in place by a lip
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In my experience tree roots go where there is moisture and I have found that by dumping a load (6 cubic metres) of potting mix on a nice flat, hard space under a gum tree, the gum roots have come up ABOVE GROUND level and thoroughly infested the compost, within 6 months. They have come up into my tunnel house with its gravel floor and made thick, foot-tripping roots about 10cms in diameter all over the 12m x 4m area. If you are planting under trees, it is smart practice to dig a deep trench at the outer limit of where you want your tree roots (and preferable all the way round) and fill it with concrete.
Gums of course are exceedingly greedy for moisture but so too are birches, maples, oaks, beeches and just about anything you care to think about even larger rhododendrons.
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The only tree going in the bed is Sorbus cashmiriana. There are no other trees in the back garden
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Mark it wouldn't be too late if your potted bulbs are still dry, or even if in growth and you were to tip the potful into your hand and then settle the whole clump into the bed. Don't try to separate into individuals though, if they are rooted and growing.
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Re the Sorbus. It too will fill the bed with roots in no time at all. In a bed the size of yours Mark, I wouldn't be putting any tree at all and perhaps only a small shrubby plant such as a smaller Daphne or dwarf conifer. Even so their roots will spread out fast. Could you go for a shrubby plant in a large pot OUTSIDE the bed, say at the back corner?
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Or maybe 2 or 3 potted Clematis up against your tank thingy which would give an attractive background plus the illusion of height in the garden.
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Mark, in the first two images a good mellow organic based soil appears but in the third one it is bad, clogged clay. Why is this kind of soil added please?
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The white bag that was in the centre was filled with pot contents of dead plants - those that died because the freeze in December. The pot mix was grit, sand and leaf mould. It does look and feel good.
Before buying the bags of soil I asked if I can dig in them to see what it was like. They were ok but wet. It's very difficult to get perfect soil here.
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more rain today today will not help help dry the soil
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But if you have spread it, the rain will help it settle.
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Off tomorrow so hopefully it will remain dry for me to add grit and leaf mould.
There is a path between the bed and oil tank mainly to allow the oil man access to the tank from over the wall. He'll not be happy when he see's his usual route blocked with the new bed
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I'm so angry ...
I was at the builders yard today where I bought my soil. Their new batch of soil in ton bags is perfect. I complained to the owner who said he would take it back but then declined when I told him I've added grit to try and improve it. He then said I can have a bag for half price and free delivery.
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Mark,
what is the name / make of the stones with a lip? the ones that don't need mortar? I have a project waiting but couldn't face all that cement mixing. ;)
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Secura Lite
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The only UK supplier is
Avant Garden Centre, Wigan Road, Leyland, Lancashire PR25 5XW
Phone: 01772 458923 Fax: 01772 452698
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worked hard today to improve my 'top' soil
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So Mark.... did you take him up on the half price and free delivery? Sounds like you could replace some with better soil, and find a use for the other somewhere else?
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Mark, it looks fine for pottery.
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Looks claggy to me Mark?
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Mark,
thanks for the contact details. I shall make enquiries. :)
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It's not claggy / sticky anymore :P
I dug it over three times today, my armd ache, adding grit and sand inbetween digs. My digging fork can go down 10 inches 25cm
It's been dry for a few days now but it has just started to rain. The plan is to dig in Lady Much
http://www.ladymuck.ie/fact-sheet.html (http://www.ladymuck.ie/fact-sheet.html)
Lady Muck
"Lady Muck organically composted horse manure is produced from a mixture of horse manure and bedding such as paper, straw, wood pellets or shavings"
Does anyone have any opinions about digging in composted manure?
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Depends what you are going to grow in there? It'll be good for Rhubarb ;D
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bulbs, bulbs and more bulbs and a tree
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I still think it's too small for a tree. How about something like a Camellia species? The upright-growing C. transnokoensis would look good and not take too much space. Forget the horse manure, even composted, if you're doing bulbs.
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I just Googled Sorbus cashmiriana and Camellia transnokoensis.
I know 4 people with S. cashmiriana and their trees are small, under 9 feet, after many years yet I see on some web sites it can reach 30 feet - gulp :o
C. transnokoensis is 2m after 10 years. The problem is the new bed is on the cold north and east side of the house. Early sun will destroy frosted flowers.
I could plant my Rhodo. Lady Alice Fitzwilliam in the bed
or plant a climbing rose
I've also been Googling dwarf trees and like the following
Acer platanoides 'Marit'
Buxus sempervirens Elegantissima
Crataegus monogyna Compacta
Crataegus laevigata Pink Corkscrew
Deutzia crenata var. nakaiana
Fagus sylvatica 'Mercedes'
Fraxinus excelsior Nana
Quercus robur 'Menhir'
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A rose would like the heavy soil and manure, and shouldn't compete with the bulbs too much.
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Lovely Lesley is right, you will have collection of rots. Even if throughly aged there is always the risk of a sudden rot outbreak in spring. If it is already in, sow some vegetable that would take a lot of nitrogen (manure is nothing but nitrogen in bulk) and next year try the first bulbs in. Leafmould is far better than something of animal origin.
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The transnokoensis I've seen have been floppy spreaders more than upright and could chew up a lot of the bed. Maybe it has a different habit in greater Belfast.
I dug manure into the vegetable garden one autumn and wound up with a severe nitrogen deficiency the next spring, obviously too much organic matter already in the soil and/or the manure was not fully composted. For the month of May and early June the leafy vegs sprouted but would not grow though they had terrifc roots. Ag Canada, after a stat soil test, said to add ammonium nitrate at a acertain rate. Things grew frightening fast within a week. Remember Jõze Bavcon said snowdrops (Gn) avoid manured meadows!
johnw - +11c at 21:40 and a gentle rain falling for a change, 15mm expected overnight so the gentle may change.
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That's interesting John. My transnokoensis is about 1.2metres high and only about 40cm across at the base, tall and slim - unlike me!
I also have a very nice form called Camellia 'Silver Column' which would do too. Again, slim and elegant. A sasanqua form so winter-flowering.
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Mark, it looks fine for pottery.
When I worked at the Cruickshank Botanic Garden we made our own John Innes compost using usually 'builder's top soil' which could be variable in quality. I remember one batch of 'soil' was such fine clay the Forestry Department had some of their african students showing others how to make clay ovens with it ;D. It grew very good plants as long as it wasn't allowed to dry out completely. We used Irish peat which has an open texture and may have compensated for the stickiness of the clay. I don't remember how good the sand was we were using at the time.
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Roma you have answered a question I was planning to ask but I went on a wild goose chase today.
I dont have enough of my own leaf mold or compost to use on the new bed. Yesterday I added 6 bags of grit to the soil. Should I add fine or ordinary peat?
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off now for 3 days and weather permitting these are the last 3 days digging. Next day off will be setting out followed by planting
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Looking forward to see the planting. Its nice to watch all your hard work. Also will be nice to see it in the spring.
Angie :)
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you'll not see much now Angie because all the bulbs are dormant. I have some small Geums which will be set around the edges but I'm not sure if I can stick to the idea of none or only a few perennials.
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Roma you have answered a question I was planning to ask but I went on a wild goose chase today.
I dont have enough of my own leaf mold or compost to use on the new bed. Yesterday I added 6 bags of grit to the soil. Should I add fine or ordinary peat?
Isn't peat a swear word? Some local authorities in Scotland have a free supply of composted garden waste. You just turn up and fill bags and take them a way.
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I've seen our local one and it's more of a mulch. It's too rough to dig in.
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You're all probably bored by now.
Last stage in the making of my new bed. Ten bags of leaf mould. Thanks to the very kind Margaret Glynn.
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Not bored here yet, Mark. ;D Keep em coming.
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Absolutely. There are many people, and not just those who dip in and out of the Forum, who will be only too glad of this step-by-step information.
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Good to know.
Yet another hold up due to rain and more rain
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During a break in the rain I managed to get 8 bags of leaf mould spread over the bed. 8 bags didnt go far.
I then went to three garden centres today to buy horticultural sand to did in at the same time. None was available
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So many ingredients in this new bed Mark, you have only to add cherries and some almonds and put it in a tin for Christmas cake. ;D Good timing too.
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Cherries should be OK, but a bit far north for almonds?
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Cherries should be OK, but a bit far north for almonds?
He can buy a couple of packets.
Central Otago cherries at the market this coming Saturday!
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Good to know.
Yet another hold up due to rain and more rain
I'm green with ENVY
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Looking great Mark !! 8)
All your hard work should pay off in the end !! Your bulbs should grow like weeds ! ;D or maybe that's not a well chosen expression in this case... ;D ;)
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Mark it's going to be worth all the hard work and something for us all to look forward to in spring.
Hope you get some dry weather to let you finish. Thanks for sharing, it's always nice to see what others are doing gives you good ideas.
Angie :)
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Thanks you three. It'll be a year before I get it filled. Looking forward to that special catalogue arriving soon.
Two more delays and the weather was great. I had to go to work
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Damn work. The nerve of it, getting in the way of a good garden building!! :o :o
;D
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Happy to be working even if it gets in the way of my plans
I'm off and it's trying to snow grrrr
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I cant remember when it last rained on my garden. My new bed is drying nicely. Today I planted lots of Galanthus, Tulips and Crocus. The bed is too small.
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Well that was inevitable Mark. Any such new garden is too small. As soon as the planting starts so many things call out to go there. You'll have to build another.....and another. :D
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No room now Lesley. My garden has a rockery, 9 raised beds and a peat bed. One bed can be extending to give about 30cm along it's edge.
I could get rid of the 12x8 greenhouse which would give me an area approx 10 x 14 feet 3 x 4m including the base
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One bed can be extending to give about 30cm along it's edge.
Beware of adding too much to existing beds, Mark. It is tempting to grab every inch but there may come a time when you realise that that is not practical from the point of view of leaving enough room for wheelbarrows, general work space, or even visitors .
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Mark, you must build some vertical walls: http://greenwalls.com/home/
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Just been out with a tape measure.
Imagine a raised bed that is against a wall.....
I can increase two sides by 40cm / 15 inches and one side by 70cm 27inches.
All I need now is a hammer to remove the bricks
I've thought of vertical gardening before to cover a wall with Dutch baskets and plant Geraniums in them.
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Or maybe you just need a new address? ;D I don't think you should get rid of the glasshouse, thinking of winter protection for some things you grow. To me, a glasshouse is the ultimate luxury. I've always wanted one, never had one, even now, after 63 years of active gardening. :'(
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I built a glasshouse of used windows (with frames). It meassures 3 x 6 m2 and didn't cost much!
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Aha Trond, a real Yorkshireman! (Come on David, don't disappoint me. ;D)
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Now Lesley, you should have learned from all the Tykes (Yorkshirepeople) on the forum that, to be a true Tyke, it would have cost nothing ;D ;D
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I did better than that with the old roof of the house!
The old and damaged roof tiles containing asbestos had to be removed. I did the work myself but when I was about to drive to the special waste deposit center where I had had to pay dearly to deliver the tiles, one of my neighbours came and asked if he could buy all of it! I wasn't hard to persuade.
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Now Lesley, you should have learned from all the Tykes (Yorkshirepeople) on the forum that, to be a true Tyke, it would have cost nothing ;D ;D
I haven't heard that word for many years but when I was a child my father used to call me "a little Tyke," meaning a rascal. Not that I ever was of course. I was an exemplary child at all times. ;D
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I think Tyke means something different these days - a rough, hood, spide ...
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Watch it, buster...
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Yeh, watch it ;D
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what time? ;D
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You're treading on dangerous ground Mr Smyth :D
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The old and damaged roof tiles containing asbestos had to be removed. I did the work myself but when I was about to drive to the special waste deposit center where I had had to pay dearly to deliver the tiles, one of my neighbours came and asked if he could buy all of it! I wasn't hard to persuade.
Why would he want them?
cheers
fermi
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You're treading on dangerous ground Mr Smyth :D
Yes I'll keep quiet more so because I'm going to Yorkshire in March :-X
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You're treading on dangerous ground Mr Smyth :D
Yes I'll keep quiet more so because I'm going to Yorkshire in March :-X
Very wise considering the reputation you say we have ;D
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The old and damaged roof tiles containing asbestos had to be removed. I did the work myself but when I was about to drive to the special waste deposit center where I had had to pay dearly to deliver the tiles, one of my neighbours came and asked if he could buy all of it! I wasn't hard to persuade.
Why would he want them?
cheers
fermi
He would mend an old outbilding roof! (I think he hoped to get it free ;) )
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I think I said somewhere in this thread that I will not be planting perennials in my new bed. I have edged it with primroses and may add my Dianthus collection also and that will be it. I decided that this bed will be an annual bed every year.
These were sown in April during warm dry weather and more were added 10 days ago. Germination has been very poor probably because I simply scattered the seeds instead of raking them in and then the lack of rain. Hopefully the next three days of rain will wake them.
I sowed
Rudbeckia 'Moreno'
Gerbera 'Feisty'
Mesembryanthemum
Papaver 'Ladybird'
Chrysanthemum cor. 'Polar Star'
Papaver 'Angels Choir'
Cosmos 'Sweet Sixteen'
Linum 'Charmer'
Niella 'Persian Jewels'
Coreopsis 'Mardi Gras'
Dimorphotheca
Chrysanthemum 'Sunshine'
Cosmos sulphureus
Felicia heterophylla
Centuarea cyanus 'Black Ball'
Chrysanthemum ' Bright Eyes'
Rudbeckia 'Cherry Brandy'
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The last bulb to flower in the bed is Allium amplectens. Thalictrum tuberosum, is it a bulb?, is looking good just now.
I could do with suggestion for other small summer flowering bulbs
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Germination was poor!? Not now. It's a jungle now
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http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4269490106447.2175608.1561943316&type=3&l=6f0a8b252a (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4269490106447.2175608.1561943316&type=3&l=6f0a8b252a)
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http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4269490106447.2175608.1561943316&type=3&l=6f0a8b252a (http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4269490106447.2175608.1561943316&type=3&l=6f0a8b252a)
Great pix!
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Thanks. I'll load some here later
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I'm so happy with my annual bed. It's alive every day with solitary, not so many, bumble and honey bees and hoverflies. Sadly not many butterflies this year. Only two Green-veined whites have called in
Nectar Bar (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csfd5OgpcUA#)
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I can see why you are happy with this wonderful display 8). Just so delicate and so much colour. Pretty good considering the weather we have had this year.
Angie :)
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It looks great, Mark.
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Thanks
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Very pretty Mark.
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The video doesnt really show how good it actually looks. Next year I'll do the same but sow seeds earlier. I did make one mistake which I told Anne about. I should have planted all my February and March purchases and gifts in the bed before seed sowing the seeds. I suppose I could put the dormant bulbs in the green house to dry out and plant them late when I remove the annuals
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I can now add it soon became alive with bumble and honey bees
Today was the day to remove all the annual plants. They were still flowering really well. Surprisingly weed free underneath. They had to come out because I have snowdrops, currently in pots, to plant out.
I have settled on the idea to plant either a shrub rose or climbing rose in the middle
Can anyone suggest a well behaved shrub rose that flowers all summer?
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Someone asked me for seeds and now I dont know who it was
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Still thinking I need a central tree or shrub in the middle or off centre in the bed. How long would a Hammemalis take to get too big? They are in garden centers now and are about 2 feet tall.
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Don't do it , Mark. You'll regret it!
Unless you go for one of the small prunus varities - John Gennard has shown a beauty in one of his glasshouses- a reasonable size after a good long time... it may be hardy enough to try outside if you can source one.
I'll look for a link .....
okay, found it : Prunus KO-JO-NO-MAI
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3053.msg80827#msg80827 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3053.msg80827#msg80827)
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Good article in this month's "The Garden" on small and dwarf Cherries
Mark, I think a Hammemalis would tend to look out of scale in a raised bed. Much better, in my humble view, in an open border.
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Good article in this month's "The Garden" on small and dwarf Cherries
Mark, I think a Hammemalis would tend to look out of scale in a raised bed. Much better, in my humble view, in an open border.
Hello Birthday Boy - you been out painting the town red all day?
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The Hams, if happy, can put on 2-4ft of growth in a year here. Probably much more where you are. Some like Jelena, the earliest here, get extremely wide. Arnold Promise is the narrowest V-shape.
johnw
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David can I beg the mag when you are finished? The Iford cherry came to mind but I don't know how tall it gets
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Hello Birthday Boy - you been out painting the town red all day?
Yup (old bloke's privilige) tell more in a tick!
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David can I beg the mag when you are finished? The Iford cherry came to mind but I don't know how tall it gets
Sorry Mark, it goes to Holland when I've finished with it but I'll scan it for you and if that doesn't work too well I'll photocopy the article for you.
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Don't do it , Mark. You'll regret it!
Unless you go for one of the small prunus varities - John Gennard has shown a beauty in one of his glasshouses- a reasonable size after a good long time... it may be hardy enough to try outside if you can source one.
I'll look for a link .....
okay, found it : Prunus KO-JO-NO-MAI
http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3053.msg80827#msg80827 (http://www.srgc.net/forum/index.php?topic=3053.msg80827#msg80827)
Prunus Kojo-no-mai and Prunus koreana are both very suitable and very hardy
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It could go to Holland via my house
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Luit - Great suggestions and thanks fir reminding me of the Kojo-No-Mai which Ashwood used so effectively at the Feb RHS Show one year.
Sadly neither it nor Prunus koreana are to be found here.
johnw - sounds like 40cm of snow is a certainty, but winds only 90km/hr.
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Prunus Kojo-no-mai can get quite big when in the open ground. The Ashwood ones and John Gennard's are, I think, in pots which keep them small for display. Here's mine, now over 5ft tall perhaps 8 or 10 years old.
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That's bigger than I would hope at that age, Diane-though it's very pretty. Right enough, John's are in pots and those Ashwood beauties will be too.
It might be possible to slow it down by planting it in a pot in the bed, but you've got to keep a very close eye on that situation or before you know it the plant either puts roots out over the pot or else breaks it.....
you'd have to treat it more like a bonsai, Mark.
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P. koreana looks great
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5 feet in 10 years - I'll be 62 if I live that long - so I'll maybe go for a Kojo. Lots in garden centres just now
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My memory had deceived me. The Prunus was bought in 2006, so it's now only 7 years old. I have trimmed it back the last couple of years to keep it at 5ft. Interestingly, the equivalent postition on the other side of our garden has a Hamamelis which is lower than the Prunus, and it a slightly older plant. I do cut the hamamelis back each year after flowering, but it's less than 5ft now.
But it's not just about ultimate height, they are a very different shape, the hamamelis is a small tree, whereas the prunus has more of a shrubby feel. Here's the Hamamelis in its full glory
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Prunus Kojo-no-mai can be pruned hard after flowering. In a friends garden it gets never higher than 1 meter after more than 10 years. I have acuired one as shrub which I like most. Another one is grown on a stem which makes a nice rounded flowering mound, but after flowering I don't like these artificial forms much and will probably put it in some corner where it's not so in sight :-\
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I didn't know Hamamelis can be hard pruned
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Prunus Kojo-no-mai can get quite big when in the open ground. The Ashwood ones and John Gennard's are, I think, in pots which keep them small for display. Here's mine, now over 5ft tall perhaps 8 or 10 years old.
Mine got to 12 feet until it succumbed to winter wet last year. They look lovely in a small pot because they flower at only a foot high but are vigorous when liberated
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Here's my Prunus Kojo-no-mai (I first posted this in March 2011). We grow this in a pot and have had it for nearly 13 years having bought it as it flowers in March and is usually in full flower to commemorate the anniversary of my Mum's death.
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I didn't know Hamamelis can be hard pruned
I don't hard prune it, I take a bit (perhaps 6-8") off each main branch just to keep it tidy and not too tall. It's never done it any harm, it always performs well in January.
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I didn't know Hamamelis can be hard pruned
I take a third of the new growth off after it has flowered and it doesn't seem to harm it at all. Pruning should be done after flowering but before summer so that flower buds for the following year have time to form.
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Mark I agree with Maggi. Don't do it. Having been lifting plants from a raised bed in recent weeks, I can tell you the roots of even a very small tree are very greedy and rob the other plants, get hopelessly tangled so that moving smaller things becomes very difficult or impossible without major damage to the smaller things, the roots cover and obliterate clumps of smaller bulbs like crocus, Iris reticulata and the like and IT WILL GROW TOO BIG - as everyone seems to agree. If you absolutely must, there are a few good suggestions above, or try a larger rock garden plant, something upright or even a VERY small conifer, grown on its own roots, (be quite sure that it is) but I still go with my original thought - don't! (There's a little Chinese elm called 'Frosty' which might be suitable but even that can put on height after a while.)