I cannot tell a lie: I cut down a cherry tree. Or three, to be exact (one died on it's own). And four apple trees. I contemplated keeping one of the sweet cherries for the birds, but its location - too close to the back fence - would have meant continual upkeep in the form of pruning.
As part of my garden downsizing, I decided to stop growing food. Once upon a time, in order to eat organically grown produce, one had to grow one's own. No more, as it is available at most major grocery stores. Fort Wayne also has a year-round farmers market, and during the summer there is one almost every day of the week somewhere. Also, growing one's own food means preserving it in some shape or form. I am the only one here, so all that effort seems unnecessary.
While the trees are gone (except for the main trunks - I will ask my chainsaw-owning neighbor to help with those), the raised beds with their cement blocks are still there. That corner also hosts a raised bed for the madder plant, which I will probably dig up at the end of next year, and a large bed that has been taken over by common milkweed. The eventual goal is to turn it all back to lawn. I know - SAD! But I will add a shade tree of some sort.
BTW, I saved the fruit trees in lawn bags, as the bark can be used to dye fiber.
Showing posts with label fruit trees. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fruit trees. Show all posts
Monday, December 31, 2018
Thursday, July 30, 2015
A mighty fortress is my garden
As they say, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. That goes for fences, too, in its own way. Despite the pickets, the hardware cloth at the bottom, the floppy poultry netting at the top, baby bunnies and a woodchuck pup still managed to breach the ramparts via small but vital gaps. Each time I saw a critter in the vegetable garden, I tailed it until it slipped out, then plugged the now apparent hole.
I wasn't too upset about the broccoli, as I had harvested the main heads a while back and the side shoots were petering out. But the sweet potatoes - argh!
And, to add insult to injury, *something* chomped the branches on one of my new cherry trees. Double argh!! I planned to protect them from winter injury by rabbits but I did not expect to have to worry about summer damage.
It looks like whatever did this did it just for spite, as it didn't actually *eat* the branches but just chomped them off, leaving raggedy stubs. Triple argh!!!
On the good news front, I think I have a solution to the pea plant-eating sparrows: mylar tape. If that doesn't work, maybe I will enclose the entire garden in a sparrow-proof, rodent-proof cage. Or give up.
I wasn't too upset about the broccoli, as I had harvested the main heads a while back and the side shoots were petering out. But the sweet potatoes - argh!
And, to add insult to injury, *something* chomped the branches on one of my new cherry trees. Double argh!! I planned to protect them from winter injury by rabbits but I did not expect to have to worry about summer damage.
It looks like whatever did this did it just for spite, as it didn't actually *eat* the branches but just chomped them off, leaving raggedy stubs. Triple argh!!!
On the good news front, I think I have a solution to the pea plant-eating sparrows: mylar tape. If that doesn't work, maybe I will enclose the entire garden in a sparrow-proof, rodent-proof cage. Or give up.
Thursday, May 21, 2015
Brrr
I'm glad I held off on transplanting the tomatoes, as the other night the temps dropped into the 30's. Not very springlike and definitely not tomato weather. This weekend looks hopeful, though.
Meanwhile, some things prefer the cool weather, like lettuce. I have tried growing it in containers before, but this year is the first time it has done well. I made "lettuce bowls" for those near and dear to me, using hanging planters so the yummies can be kept out of reach of wascally wabbits.
Peas also like cool weather, and for some reason, sparrows like pea plants. Last year they pretty much ruined the pea crop, so this year, when I noticed the damage, I dragged out some netting I bought 15+ years ago and had never used. This bit of ugliness is doing the trick, but it will also probably cause problems when the growing plants become entwined in it.
Infrastructure-wise, my SO and I finished putting up the movable fence, and we hope we won't have to move it again. The new panels are a result of shifting some beds to widen paths, plus adding another "column" of beds. I consider this array to be complete (famous last words).
The first set of fledglings are flying the nest. These robins seemed to be a single parent and an only child - no other family members appeared. If the battery in my camera had not chosen to poop out, I might have caught a shot of mom/dad feeding the youngster a worm.
The orchard is off to a good start, with one exception. There are even a few blossoms. Planting something new is always an experiment subject to gross error, but so far, so good.
The south side of the house has gone through a few permutations. Currently, there is a motley assortment of perennials, including catmint, which seems bent on taking over the world. I may just let it duke it out with the hysop, bee balm, coneflower, and whatever else is there.
Not so world-dominating are the rhododendron in front of the house. Of the original three plants, only one and a half remain. I hope this year's display is not its swan song.
The sidewalk bed looks very full this year, mostly due to the volunteer violets and columbine. I added calendula and alyssum to help out. And now that it is full, I've seen some new (to me) sedum I would like to add.
Too many plants, not enough room.
Meanwhile, some things prefer the cool weather, like lettuce. I have tried growing it in containers before, but this year is the first time it has done well. I made "lettuce bowls" for those near and dear to me, using hanging planters so the yummies can be kept out of reach of wascally wabbits.
Peas also like cool weather, and for some reason, sparrows like pea plants. Last year they pretty much ruined the pea crop, so this year, when I noticed the damage, I dragged out some netting I bought 15+ years ago and had never used. This bit of ugliness is doing the trick, but it will also probably cause problems when the growing plants become entwined in it.
Infrastructure-wise, my SO and I finished putting up the movable fence, and we hope we won't have to move it again. The new panels are a result of shifting some beds to widen paths, plus adding another "column" of beds. I consider this array to be complete (famous last words).
The first set of fledglings are flying the nest. These robins seemed to be a single parent and an only child - no other family members appeared. If the battery in my camera had not chosen to poop out, I might have caught a shot of mom/dad feeding the youngster a worm.
The orchard is off to a good start, with one exception. There are even a few blossoms. Planting something new is always an experiment subject to gross error, but so far, so good.
The south side of the house has gone through a few permutations. Currently, there is a motley assortment of perennials, including catmint, which seems bent on taking over the world. I may just let it duke it out with the hysop, bee balm, coneflower, and whatever else is there.
Not so world-dominating are the rhododendron in front of the house. Of the original three plants, only one and a half remain. I hope this year's display is not its swan song.
The sidewalk bed looks very full this year, mostly due to the volunteer violets and columbine. I added calendula and alyssum to help out. And now that it is full, I've seen some new (to me) sedum I would like to add.
Too many plants, not enough room.
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
One of the fun parts
Like most activities, gardening has fun parts and not-so-fun parts. I consider planting/transplanting to be a fun part, even when it leaves me almost crippled the next day from all the bending and stooping.
Before one may plant, one must prepare. In my garden, this means trying to get the rampant thistle, creeping Charlie, feral mint, and quack grass under control, at least in the garden beds proper. This means more bending and stooping, as well as digging. Ugh. Like brushing the cat, weeding is never ever completely done, but at some point, one must put the seeds and seedlings into the ground.
Here is what went in most recently:
As you can see, the fencing is still in progress. There will ultimately be more vegetable beds, so I need a couple more fence panels before we can properly contain the garden.
I topped the fruit trees, so now they basically look like 2-foot-high sticks. One of the cherries appears to be DOA - stunted root system, no swelling buds - we'll see if it proves me wrong. The rest appear healthy and on the verge of breaking dormancy. Fun!
Before one may plant, one must prepare. In my garden, this means trying to get the rampant thistle, creeping Charlie, feral mint, and quack grass under control, at least in the garden beds proper. This means more bending and stooping, as well as digging. Ugh. Like brushing the cat, weeding is never ever completely done, but at some point, one must put the seeds and seedlings into the ground.
Here is what went in most recently:
- Onion plants
- Seed potatoes
- Pea and snap pea seeds
As you can see, the fencing is still in progress. There will ultimately be more vegetable beds, so I need a couple more fence panels before we can properly contain the garden.
I topped the fruit trees, so now they basically look like 2-foot-high sticks. One of the cherries appears to be DOA - stunted root system, no swelling buds - we'll see if it proves me wrong. The rest appear healthy and on the verge of breaking dormancy. Fun!
Saturday, April 25, 2015
Pretty in pink
I have so many photos of the flowering plants in my yard that I don't get too excited about wandering around the property, camera in hand. However, I don't recall the rhododendron ever blooming this heavily before. I'm glad I took this pic despite the windy conditions because the next day, after a frosty night, most of the petals lay on the ground in a pink carpet.
The fruit trees did arrive, as did the underground utility guy. I had to help him find the gas lines because 1) he was not aware that when my neighbor to the south installed a gas furnace, NIPSCo ran the line across a corner of my property, and 2) the utility maps shows the main line to the north to be on the property of my neighbors on that side of the house. I've lived here over 20 years and generally have the utilities marked every year, so I guess that now makes me the expert.
I'm not such an expert when it comes to transplanting fruit trees. Different instructions from different sources do not help, either. The trees are in the ground, hopefully at the correct depth given the root stocks. Now all I need to do is cut them back to where I want the branches to form a scaffold, in my case at about 24 inches, per Grow a Little Fruit Tree. Gulp! Since I finished planting last night in the dark, I have not made this cut yet, as I wanted to be able to see what I was doing. Today is wet and windy and cold, so I will gardener up and do it tomorrow.
By the way, here is what I planted:
Apples:
The fruit trees did arrive, as did the underground utility guy. I had to help him find the gas lines because 1) he was not aware that when my neighbor to the south installed a gas furnace, NIPSCo ran the line across a corner of my property, and 2) the utility maps shows the main line to the north to be on the property of my neighbors on that side of the house. I've lived here over 20 years and generally have the utilities marked every year, so I guess that now makes me the expert.
I'm not such an expert when it comes to transplanting fruit trees. Different instructions from different sources do not help, either. The trees are in the ground, hopefully at the correct depth given the root stocks. Now all I need to do is cut them back to where I want the branches to form a scaffold, in my case at about 24 inches, per Grow a Little Fruit Tree. Gulp! Since I finished planting last night in the dark, I have not made this cut yet, as I wanted to be able to see what I was doing. Today is wet and windy and cold, so I will gardener up and do it tomorrow.
By the way, here is what I planted:
Apples:
- Liberty
- Wolf River
- Pristine
- Nova EasyGro
- Black Gold Sweet
- Balaton Tart
- North Star Tart
- Hedelfingen Sweet
Wednesday, April 22, 2015
The fruit trees are coming, the fruit trees are coming!
Grandpa's Orchard sent me an email to let me know the eight fruit trees I ordered are on their way. I've been reading Grow a Little Fruit Tree in anticipation of this event, and growing a bit anxious myself about timing. The underground utility people are scheduled to mark the yard tomorrow, so then we should be good to go. Yippee!
I'm not excited about today's weather - still cold and windy. The past couple of days I've coped by potting up some of my indoor starts. The lettuce has been transplanted to "lettuce bowls", some of which are destined to be gifts. The peppers are in larger containers, where they can spread their feet until nighttime temps are over 50. The broccoli roots also have a bit more room now, although I hope to get them into the ground by May 1. And I made the first yarden trip of the season to Home Depot, for bags of garden soil and potting mix.
Otherwise, it is just more hurry-up-and-wait. *sigh*
I'm not excited about today's weather - still cold and windy. The past couple of days I've coped by potting up some of my indoor starts. The lettuce has been transplanted to "lettuce bowls", some of which are destined to be gifts. The peppers are in larger containers, where they can spread their feet until nighttime temps are over 50. The broccoli roots also have a bit more room now, although I hope to get them into the ground by May 1. And I made the first yarden trip of the season to Home Depot, for bags of garden soil and potting mix.
Otherwise, it is just more hurry-up-and-wait. *sigh*
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