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Some Progress In My Garden Transformation - Fruit, Fruit Trees And Hugelkultur Beds

nikflossusPosted for Everyone to comment on, 5 years ago3 min read

It's so cold now so I thought I might cheer us all up with some pictures of my garden in early summer this year, and how I'm trying to turn a plain grass acre into something beautiful, ornamental and productive. It's going to take me some years but I enjoy the slow steady progress of introducing new plants and watching them take root.

Here are some cherry trees I bought. I wasn't sure where I wanted to put them so I started them off in pots. You have to be careful with cherries. Some need mates nearby and some don't. Here we have a Stella and a Morello cherry.

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And here we see a Starburst cherry, a Napoleon Bigareau cherry and a Czar plum tree. Behind them is a beautiful blooming Azalea which was here when I moved in.

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And here are some bushes, again almost all for fruit which will be slowly placed throughout the garden.

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And because I love fruit I found an old washing tub and planted strawberries in it. We got a few but my little boy picks them when they're green. He would screw up his face when he ate them and say 'not very nice'.

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And because figs are lovely I've got four fig trees waiting to go in. However figs thrive with limited water and I live near a canal, SO... I'm planting one in this old fridge and covering it with earth to make a mound. Much cheaper than a planter and easier than taking it to the tip. All I had to do was drill holes in the bottom.

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So perhaps you want to see how I'm planting the fruit trees. Because of the high water table where I live I've tried something a little bit innovative. Hugelkultur!

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It's essentially wood and earth built into a mound. The idea is that slowly the wood rots and provides nutrients to the tree. In addition the extra height will allow the cherry roots more drainage.

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Here are the first two I made. They're both Biggareau cherries; one red one 'white' which really means yellow. They need to be together to fertilise each other otherwise - no fruit!

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Here I've got four cherries planted. I've tried to span the summer with ripening times so there's always something available. Since then I've got another two mounds built. Can you guess what I'm planning?

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As my garden is more long that square I'm planning a cherry avenue with trees on each side. Then in the middle I'll plant fruit bushes. I've also got raised beds (made with old cupboards) on the sides. Once I see how it looks this spring I can plan more. Perhaps arches with hanging fruit? What do you think?

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