Hi guys, we've just moved into our new house and i wanted to document the change were going to make to the garden. When we were house hunting the garden was no.2 on our list so its been a big part of my future plans for a while now. So wanted to capture the changes we make as its going to be quite drastic. We have long narrow gardens but the previous owner but large bushy plants in which makes the garden look very small. So my basic plan is to remove most of the bushyness and make it less cluttered. Feel free to leave comments or suggestions. It would be a great help for any plant suggestions for the various areas. Front Garden. My plans are to make this a herb garden, with some fruit trees. The New front Garden when we moved in. Front garden Before ( photo / image / picture from Danjensen's Garden ) This is a south facing garden so i'm hoping my herbs will like the sun and the sandy soil. Unfortunately all the shrubs block the sun coming into the garden. Hidden in the corner is a rather impressive Fig tree, which i'm told does give a good harvest. This will be stay , with the addition of a Peach tree from the back garden and the addition of a new cherry fan. I'm still undecided about the box hedging whether to remove it or not. Currently i'm on the side of ripping it out. as its a bit stragly and doesn't fit my plans for an informal herb garden. Its also blocking me from adding another row of strawberries along the path. Finally a top shot sorry for the quality. Then Came out the cutters. I'm still surprised at how much more space the garden has after removing most of the shrubbery. I think i will drop the height of the hedge to allow more light into the garden buts its a big improvement all ready. So Thats the front garden, I will add more as we progress. Now for the bigger project which is the back garden. Back Garden The plan here is to split the garden into 3 areas. First near the house will be a flower garden , leading into a sitting area. Second half is going to be a veg plot with raised beds, the workshop, shed and hopefully bee hives. Finally the third section is the fence lines which are going to be filled with fruit trees. This is the ambious part of the project as i plan t put over 20 fruit trees in the small back yard. So here it is when we moved in. ( photo / image / picture from Danjensen's Garden ) as you can see its quite bushy and doesn't look that big. Back Garden after the chop ( photo / image / picture from Danjensen's Garden ) This is after we cleared the fence line of some of the shrubs to make space for the fruit trees. From the back of the house its added an extra 20ft to the width of the garden. We have cleared most of the fence line on the right and plan to run training wires along it then put a belgian fence of apple trees along the length. Ending in two fan shapped cherry trees and a plum at the very end. Where the weeping silver birch is I plan to put a patio with table and chairs surrounded by a white Garden, so would like some ideas on Plants. Infront of that leading upto the house, I plan to put a typical english cottage garden, so should be a blaze of colour with flowers and roses. The privet hedge is coming out this monday to be replaced with a fence. With another row of apple trees on that side, also ending in cherry and plum combination. This side of the garden will be sparsely planted with lavender and flowers for the bees. This is a shot from the other direction, this area is scheduled to have the raised beds. Plus i have my first green house which is going to be interesting and new.
Hiya Dan, What a wonderful opportunity to put your own personal stamp this property. So many possibilities there. You know Dan, I had no idea that you were such a fruit fan. You have some good thoughts along this line. I recently bought an apple tree for the lottie (to replace a non-productive plum). Naturally, I can't just go out andf buy a tree or shrub...noooooo, I have to research it all to the nth°. The choice is so diverse that it is staggering. Out of curiosity have you given any time and thought to selecting the fruit trees that you wasn't to plant in your garden? So many factors to think of--what can cross pollenate your trees, will the fruit be sweet, tart, or something in-between, when will they bloom andf when will the be harvested, with the fruits be for eating out of the hand, will the be for juicing or for making jam or applesauce....the list goes on, doesn't it? Ground sort and requirements, not to forget. Well, I am assuming that you are not ready for this because you are still cleaning-up and planning.... Having said that, now is THE time to (trans)plant any new plants/trees/shrubs, because they will then have the winter to grow more roots and become established. You can plant in march of course, but the time for establishing is shorter. I will probably read over this posting of yours a number of times because I find it so interesting. Good luck with this epic task, mate. Please keep us posted. I am excited for you.
Wow Dan, that is amazing! It sounds like you have your plans exactly figured out, and that is half the battle. It's amazing how much room just pruning some shrubs and trees can make! And a new greenhouse too! I just cant wait to see how it all turns out
WOW! That's one big job. What you have done already is a great improvement. Can't wait to see the finished gardens.
Congrats Dan on your new home and gardens. You've done a great job so far of clearing out the area. It did look very overgrown. Please keep us updated on your progress... I would love to see how it all comes together.. step by step.
Thanks for the interest guys, certainly going to be an interesting project over the next few years. Sjoerd, thanks for the kind words, yes mate always interested in any plants i can eat or drink . You would have enjoyed the decision process that went into the trees. I am also so glad of the internet as it made it alot easier. my starting point was heavy regular croppers, then i filtered by disease resistance, then by root stock that the nursary had. needed m26 for the project. This still gave me a large list, so i split it into east and west facing trees. specifically which were more frost tolerant. Then tried to get RHS Merit trees. Finally i tried to pick trees that would give me fruit for most of the year, with earlys and storing apples. Where possible picked ones that made good juice, so i can drink the windfalls or excess. (I do like a drop of cider) and finally some desserts. Through the process i got lucky with pollinating dates although, there are so many apple trees near here i would have been ok. My apple tree list is: ashmead kernal Bramley 20 Fiesta Howgate wonder James grieve Katy Meridian Red Falstaff Sunset. Plus Morello and Stella cherrys and Czar and Marjorie seedling plums. The Pallet of trees arrives in december, So rushing to get the support and training wires in place ready. Will keep on posting when i can over the next few months, I cant wait for spring to see what comes out of the ground.
Some shrubs can take severe pruning. The following photos are of shrubs that are 70+ years old. Flowers-44 by tsebmj, on Flickr Flowers-38 by tsebmj, on Flickr Flowers-36 by tsebmj, on Flickr
Oh, you are right--I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall when you were doing all the planning. Yes indeed. Well, you have come up with some good apple choices there. There are a couple there that I would like to have, had I the room for them. Say, have you considered Prunus Avium 'Kordia' (cherry). I have wanted to have a couple of these for years, When I buy cherries, it is always this sort. They are big, dark and sweet. I can tell you that it is going to be tremendously interesting watching how things develop there.
There are few things in life as satisfying as planning and planting your very own garden. Dan, it looks like you are going to be very satisfied! The improvements you have made are amazing. Please do keep us posted on progress and growth. We have five fruit trees arriving soon. Fruit trees in Texas are a bit problematic, but we hope we have chosen varieties that can withstand our climate. Your research will pay off, I'm sure!
Dan, Congratulations on the new home and garden space. You have a lot of work going on there and it is taking shape. Glad for you. On those apple trees, do you have any of the spray-less trees available to you? Goldrush, Freedom, Liberty (which I am not impressed with so far) mac free, and I think Enterprise. we have have excellent results with most of these. liberty has more spots on it than I think it should, but the others have been excellent in disease resistance and flavor. There may be a few more, but the ones we have grown have been successful.
Thanks all. I did look at the Kordia sjoerd, but went with the canadian stella for the wife to have a taste of home . With it being a north facing garden hedged my bets with a mid season type. Not seen those varieties Carolyn, but disease resistance was part of my selection where possible. This area does have healthy trees so hoping it wont be that bad. But will have to wait and see.
Dan, Those are trees we ordered from Stark Bro. or Miller Bro. Nursery... They ripen all at different times. The Goldrush being the latest to ripen, I do believe. I just picked our tree and put the apples in the garage. They are supposed to be long storing apples, too. Are you in Canada, still?. I have no idea if they are available to you or not through these growers, but I am sure they are marketed around the world, you will just need to find a supplier in your country. They are very disease resistant, but the insects this year were awful and I did spray several times just because of that. We had leaf hoppers and aphids by the millions..on everything.
What a big difference seeing the before and after in progress,..i find it hard to remove a plant that has matured in a garden,..if i can find a new home for it its not so bad I envy you starting to put your own mark in both gardens as its a great feeling,..best of luck with all your projects.
Well bit of an update. Been a bit hectic at work, but managed to fit work in on the garden. So sunday we put up the new fence on the left side replacing the old privet hedge. Photos to come, its made the garden look a lot wider. And put in the fruit tree wires down the length of each side. After blunting 6 drill bits we finally have enough holes in the angle iron..... So today we moved the peach from the back yard to front of house, hoping with the south facing and warmth from the brick. It will crop well in its new position. After waiting all day my fruit trees arrived at 3pm. So with only an hour of sunlight, I got digging and managed to put the last one in just as the sunset. However I did need a head torch to put the tree collers on to deter the rabbits. I have three apples left over, as I didnt like the positioning. So will take them down the allotment tomorrow, and espalier them as a boundary to the soft fruit part of the lottie. Was very dark when I finished but will take piccies tomorrow.
