I think you need to consider the size of your brugs and how much space you have.

For brugs with a trunk diameter of 1/2' to 1" - 3 - 4 ' will be fine.

When you start looking at trunks up to 2" and 3" - you may want more spacing.

In my garden - some of my larger trees, send roots out 5 -7' from the trunk over the course of the summer. I do have an irrigation system but they still suck the ground dry.

Hi Green Thumb Guy-
I'm surprised that in z 5 Ont, you have brugs that large. Aren't your winters severe? Most all of mine died in the ground this past winter, even with mulch, and I'm in zone 7b. All of the brugs that I'm planting are an inch or less in diameter. They are rooted cuttings, but I'm sure they'll increase in size once they've grown. If we have another sub freezing winter like the last one, I don't know how to protect them so they'll survive. So I'll probably have to take tons of cuttngs like I did last fall, & start them in my basement. How do you protect yours through the winter? I need advice. Thanks for answering me so quickly, I have to get them in this week.
kasha77

Kasha, mine are in the ground. Only the Ecuador Whites died off this winter. The yellow/orange ones from you a couple years ago survived, but are just beginning to show new growth on most of them. I thought they were dead too. I cut mine down just after the first hard frost last year. I mulched them with about 4" of shredded Cypress Mulch. I uncovered them back in mid March. The soil they are in is not well drained. I was surprised they came back given our winter.

I take cuttings each fall too.

Kasha I'm sure that GTG lifts his brugs in the fall. I'm in 7a and they won't survive our winters. I'm not surprised that his get so big over the growing season. You should see Ruth Ann's, who is also in Canada. Her brugs get huge and she lifts and cuts them back to about 10" in the fall. If possible I think about 5' or more between plants is best but I don't have that much space and some are only about 3' apart. They grow well but do grow into each other and would probably be bigger if spaced further apart.

Kathy mine are about 3~31/2' apart and do fine..

Kylie

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Hi Kasha,

Karyn is correct, I do lift mine each fall. I'm really after the shape of the tree too. I have about a dozen that are about 8-9+' tall. I just don' have the heart to cut them down. I slide them into the basement and lay them on an angle for the winter. I have several others that are cut back to 5'.

I don't know how you could stand to have them out all winter and die back to the ground - I would be sick to my stomach. LOL

I do not have much in the way of shrubs or tress in my yard so, I use the brugs to add the third dimension to my perennial gardens. They also make great privacy screens.

:)

Kylie, which brug is that you included the photo of? That's a wonderful specimen!

Cherub on the right and Santa Rosa on the left.. The old stand by's..LOL

Hi Kasha

Sorry to hear you have lost some of your brugs, mine are still dormant looking, (I am very close to zone 8) but I haven't checked yet. The cool evening temperatures have really slowed the growth on all but the most cold hardy plants in my garden (roses/iris/lily/clematis), much of my yard is at least partially shady, so the soil is just not getting warm. If the soil doesn't warm up some plants will just not grow.

I am going to wait to more weeks before I give up on the brugs in the garden. I will be heartbroken if they are gone.

oh well.... I have a few cuttings waiting in the wings!

Have a great evening!

Frances

Frances I'm a bit cooler then you, 7a, and I've had what I thought were dead brugs start putting out new growth in July. That's a bit late in the season to get a whole lotta growth going but I was still quite surprised that they put out any growth at all. Instead of composting what I think is dead I keep the rootball somewhere out of the way and water them occasionally. You'd be surprised at how many show signs of life. Good luck.

It depends on the shape and the amount of space you have really. If you have ones that tend to grow more the shape of a bush then you may want 4-5 feet between them. If you have tree shape Brugs you can place them 3 feet apart and hope their canopies don't bother one another. Spacing them closely allows you to have them grow more in full sun as they tend to shade one another.
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Here are the same ones in the fall getting ready to be brought in, showing the 3 to 31/2 feet between them. ( the Brugs themselves are all over 10 feet tall too)
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