At the edge of the orchard

So we received the planting plan for the garden at the end of April 2019. Apart from marking out some of the large beds and realising just what a big job we had ahead of us the question of what should be our next move regarding planting arose.

The structure of the garden hangs on the use of trees and large shrubs to create interest and to add some character to an otherwise flat rectangular shape.

I had been looking for the trees that my designer had recommended and I wasn't able to get them all close to hand. Also I was aware that I had probably missed the best time to buy and plant trees and would be looking at autumn to purchase and plant.

So we just dealt with what we had and marking out shapes and watering and tending the vegetables through May and June 2019.

We went to Croatia.....oh what a distant memory.

When we returned to the wonderful sunshine in Fife, my sister who had been taking care of my dog, my dad, her recuperating husband and my numerous tomato, chill, pepper, courgette and squash plants informed me that I had received a tree as a birthday present from my son!

What a clever lad...not only had he purchased a lovely Sorbus Cashmiriana which was on my plan but he had found a genuinely great mail order company whom I have bought all my trees from. They come from Mail Order Trees and I can say the quality and price are fabulous. I do buy most of my plants, seeds and garden sundries from local concerns but these trees are wonderful.

Thanks again to my sister for doing her utmost to keep all the balls in the air!

The garden lies roughly in this orientation (excuse the rudimentary drawing).

I had to amend the plan

(always a difficult decision ) because we had to find a place for the Dome which hadn't really been planned for. We chose to put it in a sunny spot where the summerhouse was to be but this meant relocating that tree Sorbus Cashmiriana which I had been given. So I swapped it and left the Malus Pink perfection out and thus have lost a tree from the original plan.

The wee Kashmir Rowan has beautiful white berries and stays relatively small.

Its leaves have just opened!

I had a mad rush to the head as they might say in Northern Ireland and sent for another 5 trees in October. By this time we should have had all the areas in the garden dug over ready for trees and planting. But that was weather and time dependent. We were so far behind and not for the want of trying. Many of our friends who have visited are amazed by what we have achieved in the time we have been here. Relentlessly Dave digs on and riddles the stones...obsessive perhaps.

So now I had lovely trees which stood in the garage for a while and I knew I had to plant them before the worst of the winter. They were all in pots and were very healthy looking. It was the problem of getting the correct levels of ground that concerned me....anyway they were all in before the end of November.

Sorbus Vilmorinii Vilmorins Rowan Tree- crimson to white berries

Prunus Blireana Flowering Plum Tree

Malus Floribunda Japanese Crab Apple

Nyssa Sylvatica Black Gum tree

Sorbus Aria Lutescens Whitebeam

Then I managed to get the one that had been unavailable in October

Amelanchier Lamarkii

All now thriving despite the late frosts and lack of water...I've been watering like mad but mindful of not wanting the roots to freeze!

Meanwhile we are owners of a hawthorn hedge which is on the outside of our wooden fence and fronts onto a public path. I take hedges seriously as the wildlife they support is important to the ecosystem. The amazing number of birds that use it as a home, a place of refuge and a feeding station is tremendous but it is quite old and in my opinion needed a bit of help to regenerate. Another job that on the surface looked easy. I had not bargained for the ferocious thorns though. I consulted friends who had cared for substantial hedges and some who had just recently replanted hedges as to what to do, when to cut etc.

In October 2018 I began cutting away at the back of the hedge nearest the fence to test out the resilience of the hedge to regrow. I cut down several sycamore trees that had begun to grow within the hedge.

I know that mixed hedges are a thing and that they naturally occur and indeed you can tell the age of a hedge by counting the variety of hedging plants contained within a hedge. Our hedge was 90% hawthorn and the only parts of the hedge failing to thrive were nearest to the Sycamore trees. I surmised, maybe incorrectly, that the sycamore was grabbing most of the nutrients to the detriment of the hawthorn so they had to go. I was gifted 30 hawthorn whips for Christmas 2018 and planted them in February 2019.

I just did some very rudimentary tidying up of the hedge at the path side to make the path navigable in 2019 and sowed some wild flower seed mix under it, I waited till I could give the whole hedge a major cut.

I was also a wee bit concerned that due to weed suppression concerns the council would spray the gravel path and so I continue to rake the path and remove large weeds...just my wee bit to help keep things looking good and prevent sprays being used which could be detrimental to wildlife.

February of this year, 2020, I was confident that most of it would regrow and I started to remove quite a lot of the top of the hedge, using a pruning saw and loppers, this took a considerable amount of time. Getting rid of the cuttings was a nightmare so taking it slowly was part of my plan.

Aware that cutting a hedge during nesting season is not good practice I was worried that I would have to leave some but Neil to the rescue...he kindly volunteered to help remove that last bits and transport away the wood!

Result.

The outer edge of the Orchard was looking better by the spring and renewal was underway!

Things are moving on in our wee bubble.