It was many weeks ago when the last of our orchard trees arrived. As the planting site was not ready and the weather was poor, we healed them in, in one of the vegetable beds. Before we ordered the trees we had found somebody to give us a hand preparing the planting sites, as this… Continue reading Planting out the orchard
Tag: orchard
Healing in the fruit trees
The traditional time for planting various trees, especially fruit trees, is in the winter dormant period. Specialist suppliers generally provide bare root specimens, which can be dug and shipped whenever the ground allows, but only in this dormant period. Bare root trees are said to establish more readily, whereas I have noted pot grown root… Continue reading Healing in the fruit trees
Orchard oddities
Yet another article looking at varieties of fruit for our small orchard, this time examining a few orchard oddities. A mixed orchard such as ours is composed primarily of apples, pears, and plums, but there are other fruits that one might consider, four of which we have picked out for planting this winter: crab apple,… Continue reading Orchard oddities
Plum varieties for the orchard
This article examines our selection of plum varieties, continuing the short series of orchard related posts. We have various plums and gages growing around the border fence of the kitchen garden and being gradually developed as fans: Coe’s Golden Drop, Kirke’s Blue, Reine Claude Violette, Oullin’s Gage, Transparent Gage, and Bryanston Gage. These have been… Continue reading Plum varieties for the orchard
Pear varieties for the orchard
Continuing the series of articles on our selection of orchard fruits for planting this winter, this article looks at our pear collection. Within the kitchen garden we have nine cordon trained pears: Doyenne d’Ete, Louise Bonne of Jersey, Duchess of Angouleme, Beurre Diel, Easter Beurre, Beurre Hardy, Marie Louise, Bonchrétien d’Hiver, Doyenne Blanc. These cover… Continue reading Pear varieties for the orchard
Apple varieties for the orchard
In a recent article, I discussed some general considerations when selecting fruit trees for a small orchard. This article considers our choice of apple varieties in more detail. We already have a few gnarly old trees around the house, two of which are Bramley’s Seedling, the others of unknown sorts, and nine young trees trained… Continue reading Apple varieties for the orchard
The selection of orchard fruits
Things are quiet in the kitchen garden – and on the blog – at the moment, not so much because there is nothing to do, but rather because we are in the middle of some major renovations to the house and short of time. One matter that we have been attending to, though, is the… Continue reading The selection of orchard fruits
Chestnut sapling damaged
Whilst inspecting the bee hives today, we noticed that one of the nut trees planted recently had been savaged, with all of the young growth eaten. Given the height and nature of the damage, it seems almost certain that deer are the culprits. Something will need to be done to try to exclude them from… Continue reading Chestnut sapling damaged
First trees planted in the orchard
The planting of the orchard, planned for the coming winter, all being well, had a headstart today with the addition of two new trees at the far end of the plot: a walnut and a chestnut. It is not the ideal time for planting, but these trees were bought during the winter and heeled in… Continue reading First trees planted in the orchard