Why I Oughta...

The pair of SugarTyme Crabapple trees that are planted on the southside of our house - up against the house via esapalier - are now entering their fourth growing season.  Planted in Fall 2021 , they've now been through three Winters and are beginning to be in a position to LOOK more like a tree being espalier'ed.   They flowered in their first Spring (May 2022 ) and I have SLOWLY pruned them into what I *HOPE* will be their final form:  Palmette Verrier Espalier.  That is a form that has horizontal branching that turns UP at the tips with the lowest branching being the longest.  The last time that I worked these trees was May of 2023 when I pruned/wired up the branches .     I've begun to adopt a pattern of dormant pruning on my espaliers including the Greenspire Lindens and these crabapples.   Here, below, is what they look like coming out of Winter.  These were untouched since last May: Below is a closer look at the tree on the left - closer to the back gate: And here, be

Took these two photos (below) earlier this Summer - June - after I cleaned up the sets of espaliers in the back and side yards.  First, the Apple trees in Belgian Fence.  Then, the SugarTyme Crabapples in horizontal cordon (for now).   This was post-pruning and they (now) look much more shaggy with new growth all over the place.  The Belgian Fence needs to still have a couple of replacements.   Note to 2024 self.

One little section of the backyard garden where we have (what I would consider) 'good' layering going-on is in the curve under the tree-swing tree that features a mix of grasses, shrubs and trees.  The standouts are clearly the Hakonechloa macra 'All Gold' Japanese Forest Grasses that sit near the border and hug the curve.  I first bought a dozen of them at the Covid-year Morton Sale .  There are seven remaining here.  (I think there are five IB2DWs.) See below for a photo of this curved section - as it stands in early September, 2023: There were these same seven Japanese forest grasses back in August of 2021 and while the growth has been pretty slow, if I look back at them from two seasons ago , I can notice that they've put on some mass.  The blades are more-full and seemingly longer as these are (now) showing a more cascading-look than they were back a few years.  There are a few more things going on in this little section that you can (if you looked hard enough

This is just over the one-year mark for a trio of grasses that I planted in our backyard late last growing season .  They've been in the ground for 13 months now and are showing their annual seed heads.  These three Miscanthus sinensis 'Adagio' Maiden Grasses are tucked in behind the All Gold Japanese Forest Grasses and in front of the Little Lime Hydrangeas .   Have a look at the photo below to see the three grasses and their first-growing-season seed heads. This being the first full growing season, I'm thinking that these put down roots this year and will begin to fill-in next year with more foliage.  I put these in this spot to help create a bit of a 'layering' affect with the layers of grasses, shrubs and the Apple tree Belgian Fence in the far back.  Like I do with all of my ornamental grasses, I'll leave these Adagio Maiden Grasses up all Winter - for 'winter interest' and will chop them down early in the Spring/late Winter for the new years

#6 on my 2022 to-do list included the need for providing a more robust structure or trellis system for our one-year-old Cascade Hops vine that was planted last year.  Last year, I used a small, metal ornamental trellis that allowed the vine to get up about three or four feet off the ground .  This year, I was planning on providing a true, stand-alone trellis.  But...the growth of this vine thought otherwise.   Why?  Because it grew like crazy and by the time I was getting around to thinking about which trellis to buy, it was too late.   But, my 2022 to-do list still stood.  What could I do?  I decided to take the same route I took with the Belgian Fence frame:  attach some deck screws to the fence and wire up a grid on the fence to provide for the vine to grow up.   I put in a dozen or so screws and wrapped green, outdoor wire around them in a box-shape and some cross-wires to make various ways for the vine to grow.   How'd it go?  The Cascade Hops vine quickly found the trellis w

What's better than one garden water feature and 'garden dreaming' post on the blog?  Certainly...You could say that: Two of those posts would be better.  But, even better than two?  That's right....three of said posts.  Especially when they run in close proximity to each other...as it serves as a document of the evolution of my thinking on projects like this and allows me the ability to work in draft format in my garden diary. First... I started this series with a look at some available stock tanks that could be used as ponds . Then, a few days ago, I posted about how I learned all about rills and what they are in the garden .  Today, I'm posting about some further inspiration that I've come across that has appeal to me as a gardener.  In terms of location, I'm talking about the patio-adjacent area to the north of our current patio .  I posted some drawings and thoughts about doing a second Belgian Fence in this area .  You can see the location here .   I st

Last year, I heard from someone from the University of Missouri who was writing a story about the art of espalier if they could use a photo that I took of the Belgian Fence espalier at Disneyland for inclusion in their piece on the Mizzou site.  At first, I wasn't sure *which* photo - because I've taken a bunch of them - but the one he was asking for was the second photo in this post :  the diamond-shaped one close to It's A Small World After All in Disneyland.   That story ended up getting published last year and my photo was included here: For those of you who have a little bit of interest in espalier or training trees, you should go ahead and give the story a read.  Head here to go through the full post. It is titled: " Espalier: Pruning as an Art Form " by David Trinklein - University of Missouri, Division of Plant Sciences. 

Yesterday, I posted a few photos of a pyramidal boxwood - Green Mountain - that I planted in a backyard bed and talked about how it was tucked in by the Belgian Fence and some ornamental grasses.  If you looked closely at one of the photos yesterday, you might have noticed a few other shrubs in their nursery containers in the background.  Today, I'm sharing the details in the [ garden diary ] of those other two shrubs hiding back by the fence. As part of our plan, the designer called for a series of Chicago Lustre Arrowwood Viburnum shrubs in a few different spots around the yard.  Below, you can see two areas that call these particular shrubs out. Part of the area you see in the plan above was/is called out as " Priority Area #2 " in this year's list of Priority areas.  You can see that it calls for four Viburnum in this section.  But...when you're dealing with some end-of-season shrub sales, you don't always get the quantity that you want.  I couldn't f

Yesterday, I posted a new photo of a Belgian Fence espalier that sits on the side of the Main Street USA train station at Disneyland Park in California and mentioned that I can learn something about spacing by looking at how they put their (non-tree) Belgian fence together to get a 4-wide x 2-tall diamond pattern.  I also posted earlier this month a 'progress shot' of my mixed apple (fruit and crab) Belgian Fence that is in the second growing season .   I was recently reading this piece on espalier design and usage where I came across this little note that made me think (again) about a second Belgian Fence.  From the post :   "Consider using a Belgian Fence to create outdoor rooms. Their design will impress year-round and provide a wall-like privacy when in bloom. During the holidays, they are prime candidates for Christmas lights." What's that you say? Outdoor room.  Hmmm....Interesting. Privacy wall.  Tell me more.   Christmas lights....well... I've spent

One of the things that I'm always struck by during our visits to the Disneyland Resort is the Disney horticulture .  I guess that I always look at a 'place's' horticulture, but when I'm at Disneyland, I always come away thinking how great of a job they do - AND - how foreign it is to me being a Zone 5b Northern climate gardener.   I've posted a bunch of photos over the years from our trips here on the blog including some photos of the Disneyland Roses , some crazy cubed shrubs near Small World  and a few times about some Belgian Fence espaliers that they have in the parks.  I first posted a photo of this Belgian Fence in January of 2019 .  Then, I posted about Disneyland's Belgian Fences later that same year.    Below, you'll see a new photo of what I think is the 'matching pair' to the espalier that I've posted about before.  This one is on the City Hall side of the train station - just as you go under the sign that reads:  "Here you l

Back in the dark, stay-at-home days of early COVID, I bought a series of eight tiny, various apple trees and proceeded to plant them 24" apart and lop them off at 18" tall .  Hoping that I'd - one day - have a diamond-pattern Belgian Fence espalier along the northern side of our property (facing south on the fence, though).  By August of that same year (2020), three of the trees had been lost .  And there was VERY little sense of the diamond pattern showing up just yet.   This Spring, I came across two suitable crabapple trees (I needed three!) and planted them.  Suitable in this case means:  on the Honeycrisp pollinator list, cost less than $10 a piece and disease resistant or recommended.  They went into the #1 slot on the left.  And the #6 slot from the left .  Leaving slot #5 open.   I have spent a little time out there pruning up the trees and wiring up the new growth this Summer.  The last time I posted a photo of this set of trees was mid-July when they were *START

Back at the beginning of Summer (or end of Spring), I planted two replacement trees in our Apple tree Belgian Fence to bring the total up to seven - of the needed eight trees.  I used a couple of crabapple trees that are known pollinators for the existing Honeycrisp apple trees.  A couple of weeks ago, I pulled out my pruners   secateurs and some padded wire and cleaned these trees up and wired the limbs in place.  You can see the trees below.   A few notes:   I'm still missing tree #5 (from the left).   I'll likely try to plant something this Fall.   Tree #6 (from the left) is not pruned down far enough.  I was concerned that all the growth was above my cut line, so I decided to leave some on a little higher.  And scored some buds below/near the (ideal) cut line to try to push some new growth.  The other five trees are in growing season #2. I'm now realizing that 18" is too close together.  It will work, but the diamonds won't be as dramatic and I think they wou

Back during quarantine (Spring/Summer of 2020), I bought eight very inexpensive apple trees and planted them about two feet apart along our fence .  Then, I proceeded to lop them them off at about 24" from the ground and hoped for the best.  They all seemed to throw off some new buds and I thought that maybe they'd all do fine.  I wired them up by mid-Summer and saw some new growth.    But, by August, I had three trees that had died .   #1, #5, #6 (from the left) were all lost - that was two Golden Delicious and a Honeycrisp trees. When I was planning this Belgian Fence espalier, I did a little bit of research into pollinators and what combination(s) were needed to bear fruit.  I'm KNOW that Honeycrisp trees pollinate Golden/Yellow Delicious Trees.  And...I'm pretty sure that Golden/Yellow Delicious trees pollinate Honeycrisp apple trees.   So, when I was going to find replacements, I knew that what I had remaining were four Honeycrisp trees and one Golden Delicious t

Back in May, I bought and planted eight small Apple trees - three Golden Delicious and five Honeycrisp - along the fenceline in an attempt to make another espalier .  Later, in June and July, I applied the espalier wire in the pattern of a Belgian Fence and started to wire some of them up .  This is a six week update from the last time we touched base.  And, unfortunately, it seems that we've lost three of the eight trees.  The one on the far left (#8)- which I didn't prune.  And two more (#3 and #4).  That's one Golden Delicious (#8) and two Honeycrisp (#3, #4).  Here, below is a close-up of the two in the middle that seemeed to have died.  They both were hard pruned and showed some new foliage, but they then exhausted themselves and seemingly perished.  I'm *not* calling these LOST yet, but I'm thinking that before Fall comes, I will add them to that LOST column for trees.  If the big box stores carry fruit trees this month for Fall Planting, I'm t

Number eight on my 2020 to-do list for the yard was to buy some fruit trees and plant them to start a Belgian Fence espalier.  Why a Belgian Fence?  Well, we already have a pair of Cordon'd Linen Trees in our yard, so I wanted to try a different form.  And, on our trips to Disneyland, I noticed that they have a number of Belgian Fences that served as inspiration .  And, on our trip to Luxembourg Gardens in Paris last Summer, we walked by their espalier garden a number of times and was struck by how they've worked their fruit trees a number of ways.  So, earlier this Winter/Spring, I identified the place that we'd plant them and then in April, I pulled the trigger and bought eight Apple trees .  By May, I had planted them 16" apart and lop'd off their heads .  Then I held my breath and hoped that we'd see some growth.  Turns out, the garden gods smiled on us and there was enough energy stored up in the rootballs and all of the trees have thrown off so

A couple of weeks ago, I planted eight Apple trees for a Belgian Fence espalier and chopped off six of them at 16" tall .  The two on the ends, I left tall and proud.  And today?  They are showing off some pretty pink blossoms.  On the top of this post you'll see the tree on the right (facing the fence). Below, is the tree on the left (facing the fence) that is blooming, too: Also...in an effort to shame myself, I'm now two weeks in and still haven't gotten around to installing the wire system on the fence. Why does that matter?  Because I'm seeing some TINY buds that are emerging from the trunks of the trees that I lop'd off.  Take a look (a close look) below: Both of the top buds seem to be emerging from the 'front' of the tree, so that's going to take a little work to move it around the side.