Plants & maintenance
Weeding; Grafting; Pruning & training; Zoning; Watering; Ongoing Maintenance Suggestions; Original planting scheme; Plant list
Weeds
Our definition:
Grafting
We were given various trees grown from seed, so have grafted them to improve the fruit
Plum grafted onto Blackthorn
Pruning & training
We prune & train our trees to keep all the fruit reachable
Pruning the Cox's Apple, Feb 15
Zoning
Even a small garden can have different microclimates
Watering
We assume plants will only need watering in their first year after planting (if at all). We mulch liberally.
Unusual Fruit
Delicious Strawberry Tree fruit
Unpleasant Goji berries
Algerian Pear - eaten when very soft
Likewise Medlars
Ongoing Maintenance Suggestions
Once it's established, there will be a few annual tasks to keep the plants fruitful & beautiful. (Because there's no such thing as a no-maintenance garden!)
End of winter (February):
- prune apple trees keep them low
- coppice rowan & hazel as necessary
- prune old canes of autumn raspberries to base
Early spring: Prune Goji minimally just as it breaks into growth
Early summer: Prunus spp: Keep new branches pruned / tied down to reduce height
July: Mulberry: reduce height & minimally prune laterals to develop spurs
Autumn: Prune summer raspberries & other Rubus spp after fruiting, leaving fresh canes to fruit next year
Keep hedges trimmed back & the blackberry lanes clear - we want all the fruit to be reachable.
2011 original planting scheme
Plant list
Mulberry (Morus) 'Illinois Everbearing'
Medlar (Mespilus germanica) ‘Royal’
Goji (Lycium barbarum) ‘Sweet Lifeberry’
Apple rose (Rosa rugosa)
Bog myrtle (Myrica gale)
Cox Apples
Mini Bush Apple 'Egremont Russet' on M9 rootstock Sadly died 2016 - ring barked.
Braeburn Apple
Blackthorn
Wild Cherry Never fruited & grafts failed, so 2017 removed and replaced with a large rosemary bush.
Crab Apple
Rowan (Coppiced)
Hazel (Coppiced)
True Service Tree (Sorbus domestica)
Red & White Currants
Jostaberries
Almond trees (Prunus dulcis)
- Almond ‘Ferraduel’ on Myran rootstock Kernels large, flat. Productive, good pollinator.
Almond ‘Ferragnes’ on Myran rootstock Kernels large, light coloured. Very productive.
Damson trees (Prunus domestica)
- Damson ‘Langley Bullace’ on Pixy rootstock
- Damson ‘Merryweather Damson’ on Pixy rootstock
Cornelian cherries (Cornus mas)
- Cornelian Cherry 'Gourmet'
Cornelian Cherry 'Yellow'Died
Bay Tree (Laurus nobilis)
Olive tree (Olea europaea)
Loquat (Eriobotrya japonica)
Strawberry Tree (Arbutus unedo)
New trees from Patrick2
Other perennials
Lemon Balm, Mint, Turkish Rocket, Wild Rocket, Chives, various Perennial Onions, Comfrey, Sweet Cicely, Marjoram, Fennel, Sorrel, Ox-eye Daisies, Campanulas, Globe Artichokes, Day Lilies, Nettles, Raspberries, Blackcurrants, Whitecurrants, Siberian Purslane, Saltbush,
Self-seeding annuals & biennials
Nasturtium, Honesty, Rocket, Land cress, Red mustard
