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Post by Cherry on Feb 9, 2014 14:26:50 GMT
I have ordered four bargain fruit trees - Braeburn apple, Victoria plum, Stella cherry and Conference pear, which are going into the bed I am working on. I am particularly pleased about the cherry, because it was a hard decision to choose between Stella and the duo tree which I bought and planted. They are going to the front because I don't want any more wasps' nests like I used to put up with near the patio area when I had the huge old apple tree. Also, they will be easy to look after. I am putting a seep hose, which I already have, completely around this bed, which will take in the hydrangeas and rhododendron in the shade behind the pines. Although this area is very exposed and windy, it is the early spring plants which suffer. It is extremely hot in the summer. Ideal for deciduous summer fruits.
I also got rid of a Viburnum bodnantense 'Dawn' which was always suffering in the gale. The flowers never opened completely, so out it came. Instead of lamenting the loss, I was pleased because now I won't be disappointed.
My son broke two spades digging these roots out. I would not lend him my good one which was a prize I won a good few years ago. One snapped off where the spade joined the shaft. The plastic handle broke in half on the other one. They were not mine, but had migrated up from the hangar.
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Post by Geranium on Feb 10, 2014 6:24:03 GMT
Won't you need more than one of each tree, Cherry? I have a vague recollection that some fruit trees need 'friends'. Sorry I can't be more specific. |
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Post by Cherry on Feb 10, 2014 6:34:20 GMT
These are all self-fertile Geranium, but they always crop better with pollinating partners. I have nearly 20 apple trees already, 3 pears and 4 plums, but they are a fair distance away. There were no cherries along the lane or in the orchard and now I will have 2. One part of the duo cherry was meant to pollinate the other, but now I have Stella as well and it has been listed as a pollinator. It is also recommended by steve. |
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Post by Moonlight on Feb 10, 2014 9:12:51 GMT
These are all self-fertile Geranium, but they always crop better with pollinating partners. I have nearly 20 apple trees already, 3 pears and 4 plums, but they are a fair distance away. There were no cherries along the lane or in the orchard and now I will have 2. One part of the duo cherry was meant to pollinate the other, but now I have Stella as well and it has been listed as a pollinator. It is also recommended by steve.
Wow you are very lucky Cherry, what do you do with all the fruit and how do you get it all picked? |
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Post by Rosie on Feb 10, 2014 9:32:00 GMT
Your tree's sound great Cherry, you'll be drowning in fruit in a few years time  |
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Post by Tel on Feb 10, 2014 9:58:07 GMT
More fruit trees Cherry. Are you digging the airfield up Cherry. |
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Post by Cherry on Feb 10, 2014 16:43:27 GMT
I miscounted and have 5 plums. Now here is the bad bit. On one plum I can reach one branch because it is over the 10 ft drain. This branch provides about three baskets of fruit. The yellow plum is heavy with fruit one year and then there may be nothing another year. I can't reach the others and the fruit feeds the birds. There are loads of pears, but I don't like them and only cook them in frangipane tart or whatever. Visitors and pilots take bags of pears home. My apples are very good and I use and freeze a lot of these. I cannot keep them because mice like them too. I take baskets of apples to the WI harvest meeting and a huge bag of them decorate the church at this time. A potato sack of apples goes to the masonic lodge in Wallingford, Oxfordshire. My husband is a member and treasurer there. The wildlife take the rest, and the wasps stay down the lane with the trees.
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Post by daitheplant on Feb 10, 2014 20:39:42 GMT
Not hardy enough for this spot. Am I wrong? You are making me think now? I think it was the wind which put me off it. Liquidamber is perfectly hardy, it is ideal for situations which are too cold for ornamental Maples.  |
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Post by Geranium on Feb 11, 2014 6:09:52 GMT
You really do have an orchard, Cherry. How lovely!  This garden was partly an orchard many years ago - and the rest was a market garden. The owner used to transport fruit and vegetables to Bristol to sell! I only have one damson and one ancient apple tree left.  |
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Post by Cherry on Feb 11, 2014 7:10:01 GMT
The orchard part is reasonably well looked after and provides beautiful Grenadier and James Grieve apples and the huge Conference pear is in the front. The huge trees surrounding it are now throwing some shade, so some trees are leaning. I get plenty of beautiful fruit from here. The trees in the lane have grown very tall and I can hardly reach them. The best one is the Bramley in the corner and I need a tree next to it cut down. I get more than enough on the other fruit. The Discovery is always plentiful and early enough to miss the wasps. However, I really dislike Discovery, which has a 'winey' taste I think. To my regret, I have no quince. A damson would be useful for me Geranium. I have an awful lot of sloes. I might do something with them this year. Except for the orchard, which could have come later, the lanes and one cross drain were planted with fruit trees. The house is a fifties house, but the farmer lived here in the railway carriage for years before that time. I use it for storage and that is where the snowdrops I mentioned are growing. |
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Post by Cherry on Dec 8, 2014 20:54:08 GMT
Here is the earliest picture I have seen of mistletoe growing on a young Rowan tree. It was put there in February, so it is only 9 months to grow to this stage. Of course, the winter could see it off. There are others about, but I have to look closely for them.  |
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This garden was partly an orchard many years ago - and the rest was a market garden. The owner used to transport fruit and vegetables to Bristol to sell! I only have one damson and one ancient apple tree left. 
