What are these plants...

[spookypony]

Well, I took a cutting of the last plant ("tree-y thing", 8th and 9th pics) to the botanical gardens. Diagnosis: ligustrum ovalifolium, otherwise known as privet. Just a really out-of-control one. So 1stclassalan wins on that one! If you see it live, the leaves are paired.

 

[Suechoccy]

Cotoneaster, laurel and holly.

The last tree looks a bit like lilac to me.

All of them need fencing off from neds.

 

[1stclassalan]

Well, I took a cutting of the last plant ("tree-y thing", 8th and 9th pics) to the botanical gardens. Diagnosis: ligustrum ovalifolium, otherwise known as privet. Just a really out-of-control one. So 1stclassalan wins on that one! If you see it live, the leaves are paired.

Ha, ha, all that studying paid off in the end eh? There's a good trivial pursuit question for next time you need one:- how many types of plant are there in the world? Yes, all of it?

Three! If you look at the way the leaves grow they are - pairs, single alternates and singles going around the stem in a whorl.

Another diagnostic tools is your nose - most leaves have a smell when crushed and many plants have scented sap in the stems - for instance, your Holly and Laurel are very noticeable. When I trained in horticulture, believe it or not - I used to read and memorise a vast trade catalogue and learn 100 plants a week. Out on the nursery, each row had a large label hammered in the ground vertically but written horizontally - sometimes, even now, fifty years later I'm tilting my head to read them!

 

[spookypony]

Ace!

Next question: how do I get these bu@@ers out? Saw and spade? While the rhododendrons are the healthiest thing in the garden, I'm not letting the ponies near eating them!