Wednesday, June 3, 2015

Rock Wall Garden

My rock wall garden technically isn't in my yard. The pavement is a private way and technically owned by all the people that live on the road. But upkeep is the responsibility of the house in front of the area so I get to put whatever I want into it. And we are the last building (with two townhouses) on the road. My townhouse mates didn't want to deal with it, so it is all mine. I put my strawberries and espaliered fruit trees there.

Persimmon

The first tree in the row is an apple tree - Pink Lady. It is its first year and is growing slowly. Above is the second tree that is a persimmon. This one and the next one - a two in one plum tree (Redheart and Shiro) are also in their first year, but they aren't going to be really espaliered. I figure it is easier to let them grow more naturally. But they will be shaped to stay along the wall. I'm not really sure how to prune a persimmon. I'm going to have to look it up. But the plum is much like a peach and I have experience with that at least. I'm pretty sure I can make it do what I want. I hope.

My big problem comes with the older trees that were put in a couple of years ago. This is their third year. Above is my pear tree - Honey Sweet. I need one more rung of branches, but I've got no main trunk going up. When I cut the top off to get side branches only two started. I bent them both over to follow the wire. I was sure when spring came I would get more choices of branches. Pears really want to go up. But the only upward branch is four inches into the left branch. Or way down about eight inches on the trunk. I need an upward branch. So I need to make a decision. Do I cut these beautiful branches off to try to get a good upward branch? Or do I take the one that is four inches into the branch? Or do I take one that is about eight inches down and in the back of the current trunk? I'm pretty much a novice at pruning fruit trees. I never had any before I moved here.

My second issue was the next tree down which is a Liberty apple. With the heavy snow it bent the trunk a little over even though it was pretty well attached. One of the branches didn't move with it and broke off. It was still alive but was barely attached. I figured I couldn't leave it there as it wouldn't support much. Luckily there was a branch coming out the back. The bend isn't perfect, but my only other choice was to take a branch from father down and it would look very weird. Hopefully it will work well.

But good news on the espalier front is the first of the branches on the bottom row finally grew together. Whoot! A line of green all along. I pinched out the end of the branch where it met the other. I've been doing a lot of pinching and tying up of growing branches all spring long and I'll keep doing it. I go out about every two weeks for this chore. They grow quickly in the spring.

Though technically not an espalier and in the garden proper, I have my weeping Santa Rosa plum. Like the other plum in the wall garden, this one is going to be pruned to be a linear tree. It only has a depth of three feet from the wall to the main garden path. It really wants to lean against the side of the house. And it was listing over to the side. So I shored up its support. The trunk of the tree is very thin and not strong at all. Hopefully it will get thicker quickly. This tree was planted last year.

Bean missing its top. Will it regrow?

And in sad news the groundhog found a way into the garden. He ate some lettuce and the beans. I'm pretty sure I know where he got in. When the fence was put in it was put about a foot in front of the corner of the house and there is a small gap between the fence and the trim of my front stairs. I've added more cobblestones to that corner. And I've draped some netting over the fence itself. I don't think he can climb it but if he tries I'll know because he will pull it off. And I checked carefully for digging, but couldn't see any signs of that. Honestly that is usually how a groundhog gets in.

Only two bean plants were left from the groundhog gorging. Some may or may not grow back. Sadly I only had four more Golden Gate bean seeds which I planted. So I might get to harvest beans. Maybe. If the groundhog doesn't make it in again. Now I don't eat beans. But I love seeing them grow so I decided to grow them for my townhouse mates. Hmm maybe I have a different variety in my basement. Well if these get eaten too, I'll go look.

9 comments:

  1. Grrr... The hated groundhogs. They do lots of damage to us every year.

    I hope you find a solution that keeps your garden safe from them.

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  2. Congrats on the Liberty success - it must be such a great feeling to prune/shape and actually have the tree do what you wanted it to do. When it comes to pruning trees, I always seem to take micro-mini steps - I'm so scared that I'll get rid of a good branch or stunt it, etc. I have a couple of Lee Reich's books and they do help, but it's been a couple of years since I've read them and I think I will have to read them again - hopefully it gives me a bit of confidence, especially with the nectarine - I KNOW that I didn't pruned it severely enough when I planted it.

    Ugh - I'm equally paranoid that the resident rabbits will discover what I have growing in the unfenced, new beds - I'll be away from the garden for a few days and hopefully I don't come back to munched plants. I feel like I'm really pushing my luck not having the beds fenced and I'll have to install at least some makeshift fencing as soon as I get back.

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  3. ugh. the grounhog got into our strawberry patch again :( it was decimated! it dug its way in. we are setting out the live trap tonight!

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  4. That groundhog looks pretty fat -- maybe he's had enough ice cream and wants to slim down with your veggies. I have the same bean problem only with slugs. The beans eventually do grow back if they have some part of seedling leaf remaining. But, very slowly.
    Ray

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  5. I imagine that your lane looks beautiful when all thenurses have blossom. Is a persimmons self fertile?

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    1. Yes the persimmon is self fertile. It is an ichi-ki-kei-jiro. My pear is self fertile too as I just have one.

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  6. Hi daphne, so where did you purchased your persimmon tree? I had a chocolate variety, future, the last few years, from Thayer nursery. Did not break dormancy, probably because of harsh winter. Sadly had to get rid of it. Was told by Thayer rep that apparently it was considered "semi-annual"?

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    1. I bought it from Stark. And a persimmon tree shouldn't be semi-annual. It is a tree for goodness sake. It doesn't even produce for about three years. Though they do have different hardinesses so get one for your climate. Mine is Ichi-Ki-Kei-Jiro and is supposed to be hardy at zone 6. The rock wall is a hard place for it to live though as the air leaks in the sides so it get more freeze thaw than in the ground. Hopefully it survives. If not I'll have to find one that is more hardy or move to a different tree.

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    2. Thank you for answer. Yeah most likely the harsh winter. I know it thrives in the south and west coast, particularly California. Absolutely best luck and happy gardening!

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