Part of the overall plan, noted earlier, was to include fruit trees in the backyard.
Of course, one cannot say “fruit” without meaning “apple”
but the issue was where in the layout of my particular yard.
They would do better in a sunny area receiving the south sun but that is a problem in my yard.
However, with a little planning I came up with a solution. I would build a special “bed” on the south edge, just back from the fence where the ground sloped downward. The slope made it difficult to use for anything else but grass anyway. The fence row itself is lined with lilies but by staying away just a bit a functional area could be arranged.
I formed this area with some curvature, almost like a kidney bean, to give it some eye appeal as well. Into this bed would be placed other plants and flowers to make the whole area pleasing to the eye but also to set off the apples.
Into this I placed some peonies and ornamental grass transplanted from elsewhere in the yard, arranging them symmetrically around the border.
Next it was time to get the trees.
Years ago, when living and gardening in Virginia, I used to get the Stark Bros. catalogs and because I was impressed with their products, decided that when the time came their trees would be the ones to use. Imagine my delight on moving to St. Louis to discover that their nursery was only about 90 minutes up the road!
So on Father’s Day this year I gave myself the present of apple trees from Stark Bros. Nursery. I was aiming for the dwarf style but discovered that I was too late in the year to plant them; they are not as hardy a stock and need to be put in early in the spring or later in the fall. Instead, I settled on the semi-dwarf style that will grow to about 14 feet though I can keep them trimmed to control the height.
For varieties you need at least two that will pollinate each other. The nursery has all that listed out and were very helpful with choosing both from the standpoint of pollination and usability. We choose two different varieties, one great for eating and one also good for cooking. The ones we chose were Jonathan and Gala.
We carefully wrapped the trees so they wouldn’t get blown around in the back of the truck on the way home and I spent the rest of the afternoon placing them in their new homes in the special bed arranged for them.
One more step toward the complete vision – apple trees in the backyard!
See you in the garden!
Jon
PS. While at Stark Bros. I also picked up an Echinacea plant which also went into the bed. Since part of the purpose of the garden is to provide productive, health-giving plants, Echinacea is a perfect fit since it is a wonderful immune system builder and is a plant which I have always wanted to grow. Bonus!