I took a stroll around the gardens today with the camera, things are finally starting to grow nicely! I took some pictures to share.

Here is the start of my fig collection, mostly thanks to the generosity of Nick, Ricci, and Ed! From front to back we have: Bari, Chicago Hardy, Bronx White, and Brown Turkey. If you look closely: 6 Blueberries (3 dwarf and 3 highbush) and a miniature peach are also hanging out here.

Could anyone take a guess if this is indeed Brown Turkey? From my research the leaf (haven't gotten fruit from it yet) doesn't quite seem to match English, Texas, or California Brown Turkey. It was a cutting from a 1-2 year TC (I think) plant, so it might still be developing it's 'true' leaves. It is a tough fig though, more on that later.

Fruit lane. Hard to see everything here, but I have 'Liberty' Apple, 'Moonglow' Pear, 'Red Anjou' Pear, Baby Shipova, and Dwarf Shipova. The vegetable garden is the area with straw mulch. You can also sort of see the berry patches in the back: one for blackberries, one for black raspberries, and one for everbearing red and gold raspberries. There are also several PawPaws out of frame to the left where it's shady. And yes, I need to mow my lawn.


This is my fig well, the thought being that the rocks will help insulate in the winter and add heat in the summer. My first fig, a 1-2 year old Brown Turkey, survived the winter in here (Pennsylvania Zone 6b) with only leaves thrown on top in January. I think most of the dieback was from rot due to wet leaves since branches were slimy when I uncovered it. Next year I will cover better, this past winter with a new baby did not allow for things to get done properly.

As I plant more in-ground this year I intend to copy this design, except sink the wells into the hillside more for better winter insulation a la Sepp Holzer's citrus in the Alps. This hill faces almost due west. Also, strawberries in containers with hopes there will be less mouse/slug damage to the fruit.

  Close up. This is the same variety as photo 2, but these leaves seem to have 3 lobes so far.


Due to the recent thread on Meyer Lemons, here's mine. I just took it outside for the summer last weekend. Probably 8-9 years old.

I have lots more I could share, but I won't take up too much more space. Enjoy!

Very Nice.  Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Joe!

ver nice!
Thanks

Looks great Kelby!

Very nice! What are you using for limb spreaders in the pic of your fruit tree row?

Thanks,
Phil

Great yard!  Good luck for a great growing season this year.  On those spreaders, what is the function of the nail on each end?  Does that stick into the bark?  I would think that would cause damage; but maybe I am not visualizing it correctly.

Yes, they stick into the bark/wood, otherwise they fall off when it's windy. I think most commercial ones have either a V at each end to hold in place or some sort of spike.

I'm not really concerned about damage from it, just a single nail. The holes heal over quickly.

I say you can't have too many garden pictures. Yours are great! I'm trying to get mine organized this year. I picked up several currants, honeyberries, one chokeberry, and gooseberries at our garden center's end of season clearance. I've added some fruit trees this spring and finally a male hardy kiwi. I've read a lot about Sepp Holzer but haven't read about citrus in the Alps. Off to do some googling.

Looks very nice.  My yard never seems to get that tidy.

Thanks!  I like that idea, I've been cutting some spreaders out of small scrap trim wood, typically 1/2 x 1.5 inches which is a bit too big (and ugly), with a "V" cut at the end which holds... mostly.  The nails are a good idea! 

Phil

I'll second schaplin on both counts. Your plantings look great. Mine...are a work in progress. Maybe I'll post pics someday and everybody can point out all the messes I refuse to see anymore.

My little one took a long nap this morning so I was finally able to get some figs planted. These are from my camera phone, so quality isn't good.

 
First step in my yard is to dig a hole. I dig a big hole, then dig some more. This is about 2' wide and deep. Due to the way the site was leveled 40 years ago there's some weird soil in my yard. But everywhere is plenty of clay and rocks, a little bit of topsoil.

 
This is 'Bronx White'. I had considered leaving it containerized for another year, but I feel growing in ground will be better than the irregular care it will get in the summer due to the human factor (that being me). The backfill was a mix of compost, some sand, a soil builder called Bumper Crop, and the better soil I dug out. I also added lime and GardenTone.

 
I added this 'Brown Turkey' next to the parent that survived the winter and expanded the rock wall. This hole featured a 4" layer of sand on top (probably from construction of the house decades ago) and rocky clay underneath. I tossed almost everything I dug out (also about 2' wide and deep) and filled with the same mix as before.

More rocks will be added to each wall, but my arms had enough of hauling them from the pile. Plus I'm pretty sure there were fresh snake droppings under the one rock, so I give him a day to relocate.

Next up is special planting in a month or so once it's a little bigger. I've decided that gets the place of honor in the bed by the front door where it should get some shelter from the house in winter and good reflected heat in the summer (house faces almost due south).

Thanks for looking!