Thursday, April 7, 2011

Trees, Trays and a Little Problem Solving

Spring in the gardens here at Menagerie Manor is a very busy time and that I am afraid will have to do for my excuse for ignoring the blogs of late. I took Rob's lead of "A Gardeners Diary" and purchased a few new fruit trees. The first is an Asian Pear called '20th Century', it was recommended by the nursery manager as a good one for me to espalier on the back fence at the end of the property.


Next I found an Apricot that sounded promising called 'Harcot" which I will eventually transplant to the back wall of the greenhouse as an espalier as well. Currently it is espaliered in a large nursery container waiting for me to make room for it. I am building a new three tired seed tray shelf unit in the greenhouse so space is at a premium until that job is done.
I have two full nursery trays full of both red onions and my favorite yellow Spanish onions which are a great medium sized onion that seem to keep well. I also planted two trays of bell peppers and another of Italian Roma tomato's.


Ever since the little Terrorists came into our lives we have tossed around many ideas of how to make the edge of the Koi Pond not such a worry. I have drawn out many designs of fences and artsy barriers that would keep the little rascals from taking an unexpected dip into the pond. One of those ideas was to simply line the edge of the pond with large ceramic pots, thus creating the needed barrier but also keeping the aesthetic beauty of the pond edge being one with the patio edge. I had great fun digging up plant material  to add to all the pots. There are several pots being housed in the greenhouse until the weather warms a bit, one of these is our large Sago palm that my son's gave me for fathers day many years ago which will finish the border off very nicely. We are on the look out for great deals on more large pots and some smaller ones to fill in the gaps.


This Lovely little Quince "Fuji" was a bit pricey for my taste but it followed me home from the nursery just the same.


4 comments:

  1. I love all the plans and plants that go into each year and have had a few plants somehow find their way into my car too Your plans sound promising and I really like your solution solving too!

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  2. I look forward to seeing the new trees develop. Garden ponds are a worry when you have children, I'm in favour of electric fencing, the sort farmers use as temporary fencing to keep stock in place - just kidding! The boss worried so much about the pond in the Japanese garden that he drained it until the children were old enough to respect it the trouble is that during that time the dogs with the aid of the children have torn up the lining so now the boss has another headache - the cost of replacing it now that the children are old enough to know better.

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  3. That's a great idea with the pots, Doc!

    We have a filberts in bucket to take to the farm, when next we go.
    So much will depend on the economy though. :|

    Hope you all have a great weekend!

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  4. That's a good idea! Those big pots weigh a ton,no little one can move them!

    Plants follow me home from the nursery too....strange,lol!

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