Tamarix (Tamaricaceae) Tamarisk

Tamarisk can be deciduous or evergreen shrubs and trees. Mild areas produce trees that are very wind-resistant and therefore they are often used as barrier hedges in exposed coastal areas. They like a sunny position in well drained fertile soil; where they produce abundant racemes of small pink or white flowers in the summer.

Spring time is the optimum time to prune trees and hedges, and it is then that the new growth of purple stems contrasting with the blue grey foliage gives a second season of interest. Semi ripe cuttings are easy to propagate.

Here in northern Catalunya farmland which has been reclaimed from marshland is rich and fertile and produces apples, peaches and pears in profusion. The farmland extends down to the beaches of the Costa Brava and is subject to high winds; it is the Tamarisk which is used to separate the agricultural land from the Mediterranean sand carried by the wind. Anybody who has used the campsites around the coastal region will have sheltered behind the Tamarisk tree.

In some parts of the USA the Tamarisk has become an invasive species and is weeded out of the native forests.

I have seen fine examples of a specimen tree and will try to add a photograph to this entry.