Trees

[Moo]

Would you like a walnut, Joce?

Something (I suspect squirrel) keeps burying walnuts in our miniscule (3m x 4m) back garden. Last year we had eight healthy saplings, which I managed find homes for, and this year (thanks to rigorous housekeeping) we only have one. They grow pretty strong tap-roots very quickly, so I'm going to pot it up and keep it for a few weeks.
If no-one wants it, it will be put out on the pavement to take its chances.

 

[JoceAndChris]

Oh, how kind. Could you keep it safe for me, and I'll have a little trip to Norwich soon and pick it up? I'd love to see you again, and this is a perfect excuse!

 

[Moo]

Excellent idea!
You've just saved a small life.
And, as you say, it's a great excuse for another visit!!

xxx M

 

[JohnB]

John, how big were the willows? What a lovely thing to do.

This big
View attachment 1

They should ideally be mulched with black plastic, to stop the grass overwhelming them, but I haven't got any. I'll put something round them later. In the lower picture you can just see the windy path marked out with logs running through the middle, and I've marked the border of each of the different types with more logs.

I'm glad to see that you're observing the horticultural rule about planting things in odd numbers. Mind you, I'm not sure how important this is when you get up into the hundreds. :wink:

Rule!!!!! I don't do rules. There just happened to be 117 whips lying around in buckets in danger of dying if I didn't get them in the ground pretty soon . I've found a few more I might put in today

 

[skier-hughes]

Moo, any more walnuts and I'll have some please. Bit late to get my Oaks up, but I do have about 6 well grown specimens (18"+) left over still if anyone wants them now or later

 

[AMc]

Moo - do you actually get any walnuts? We have a walnut tree but the squirrels strip it before we get any mature nuts. I only know for sure it's a walnut as I sometimes find one buried in the back garden.

 

[Moo]

We have a walnut tree but the squirrels strip it before we get any mature nuts.

Ahah! Now I know where all those buried walnuts come from.

I'm afraid I can't give a sensible answer to your question about nuts on our trees, though. With a garden as small as ours it would be impossible to grow one to much more than 18" high.
But I do know someone in S Norfolk who has a mature tree in his back garden and I know he gets some nuts from it. Not all that many, of course, because there are squirrels there too and the tree's far too big to net without the aid of a cherry-picker.

 

[Moo]

Moo, any more walnuts and I'll have some please.

I'll have a good look around, and if I see another one I'll put your name on it.

xxx M

 

[Flyfisher]

But I do know someone in S Norfolk who has a mature tree in his back garden and I know he gets some nuts from it. Not all that many, of course, because there are squirrels there too and the tree's far too big to net without the aid of a cherry-picker.

Not sure if you meant our walnut tree, Moo, but everything you said applies. When I removed part of a ceiling to repair the end of a main beam, it was full of walnut and hazelnut shells (well, not full but you know what I mean) so the squirrels are clearly having a good time here.

 

[Penners]

A dog, a woman and a walnut tree,
The more you beat 'em, the better they be.

Don't blame me! It's an old proverb.

But many of those old sayings carry a great truth within them, don't you find?

In this case, the beating of the tree had two effects. It brought down the walnuts and it broke the long twigs, encouraging new spurs to grow, producing next year's crop.

 

[worms]

If you want to keep the beech trees but they're too tall, you could cut the tops off...

True to form I was going to suggest the exact opposite! Given that you are in danger of changing the landscape; that you want to grow fruit trees and that you live on top of a hill (as far as I recall), I wonder if you should go for a "crown lift" on the best of the more mature specimens and then plant an understory of fruit trees. That way you will retain the landscape appearance, provide some shelter for the fruit trees and be on your way to establishing a "forest garden". If you are not familiar with the terms, I'll leave you to google "crown lift" and "forest garden" as the web will explain much better than I ever could!

 

[worms]

If you want to keep the beech trees but they're too tall, you could cut the tops off...

True to form I was going to suggest the exact opposite!

Before Penners suggests it - no I don't mean cut the roots off...! Remove the lower branches to create light and space in the understory!

 

[Gareth Hughes]

No mulberry? you MUST have a mulberry.

How divine of you to remember I said I loved mulberrries. I do love mulberries, and the fruit is damaged so easily they aren't grown commercially. The only place I've had them is Borough Market, and then sun-dried, giving them a chewy, achingly sweet and sour intensity that's like nothing else. I'll order one right away!

Nothing beats fresh. A great big, juicy, blackberry / raspberry mix. (before you get carried away with thoughts of curtains, silkworms don't like the black mulberry, only the white, which doesn't taste as good).

 

[Penners]

before you get carried away with thoughts of curtains, silkworms don't like the black mulberry, only the white, which doesn't taste as good.

Wasn't it 'Enery The Eight who made a gigantic cock-up on that front? Imported thousands of black mulberry trees to increase production of English silk, only to find...?

 

[MdB]

before you get carried away with thoughts of curtains, silkworms don't like the black mulberry, only the white, which doesn't taste as good.

Wasn't it 'Enery The Eight who made a gigantic cock-up on that front? Imported thousands of black mulberry trees to increase production of English silk, only to find...?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/3311801/The-fruit-of-queens.html

(James I not Henry VIII though)

 

[Penners]

James I not Henry VIII

I had a sneaking feeling that I'd got that one wr.... wr..... Sorry.... wro-o-

No, it's no good. I can't say the word.

However, since James I/VI was very big on the Divine Right Of Kings, he must have been right about the mulberry trees. It was obviously the silkworms that got it wrong.

 

[JoceAndChris]

:lol:

Those silkworms do sound perverse. Who'd want to munch their way through an inedible tree?

 

[JoceAndChris]

If you want to keep the beech trees but they're too tall, you could cut the tops off...

True to form I was going to suggest the exact opposite! Given that you are in danger of changing the landscape; that you want to grow fruit trees and that you live on top of a hill (as far as I recall), I wonder if you should go for a "crown lift" on the best of the more mature specimens and then plant an understory of fruit trees. That way you will retain the landscape appearance, provide some shelter for the fruit trees and be on your way to establishing a "forest garden". If you are not familiar with the terms, I'll leave you to google "crown lift" and "forest garden" as the web will explain much better than I ever could!

Thanks for your helpful, ideas. The beech trees have such a lovely shape as they are, it's just that the ones by the workshop and outbuildings are a bit scary. At 100 feet tall, it would be difficult to access the crown. And there's no space to underplant.

Imagine the first and the second photo joined together to get the idea of how it looks. My "garden" ends with the far right tree.

The beeches are the giants you can see, you can get something of the scale of them by the tiny looking garage, which is 10 feet high.

There's certianly room for more of an orchard here though:

Thanks for all the ideas.

 

[Penners]

Imagine the first and the second photo joined together

You mean like this? (You'll need to use the left/right scroll function to see it all)

 

[JoceAndChris]

:shock:

How on earth did you do that? 8)