Ten trees in my backyard

Two Apple trees, a Mulberry, Orange, Peacherine, Plum, Cherry, Bradford Pear, Golden Elm and Standard Prunus have all made there way into my suburban backyard! 

Its been said that the best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago and the second best time is now.

The first tree we planted was the Standard Prunus when we bought our first home 8 years ago, it really is a beautiful tree, easy to grow and maintain and very hardy once it is established. It has dark maroon leaves that fall in winter and stunning pink blossoms in spring. The new summer growth is a bright red colour. Its a great feature tree for the front garden and does require full sun.

The next trees we planted were the Bradford Pear and the Golden Elm out the backyard. Great shade trees which was why we planted them, but they give the garden height and are a beautiful sight from the lounge room window. These trees are also deciduous and are covered in white blossoms in spring and let the winter sun into the yard. The pear is about 3 years and the Elm is 2 years, both are easy to grow all you need is a large hole, usually about twice the size of the pot it comes in and if you have clay soil always use a product called Clay Breaker in the bottom of the hole to loosen the compacted soil over time. Water well when establishing over the first year then only when its hot by way of a slow dripping hose left on the tree for a few hours, never surface water.

 

My current focus is on fruit trees and we only recently planted a whole bunch of them, I am most excited about the Mulberry tree as they truly are heavenly to eat and cook with and the tree get quite large and I'm sure my two kids are going to love climbing it to pick fruit and have fun.
One of my future posts will be about pruning fruit trees which I will do once all the leaves have fallen off and a particular post on espalier which I'm attempting to achieve with a Naval Orange tree.

In about 5 years time I think these trees will fill the yard and create a wonderland of growth and sanctuary for birds and my family. I have big vision and dreams for my very small part of this world and its only limited by imagination.

I hope you're inspired to plant a tree and enjoy some of the simple pleasures in life wether it be enjoying the show in the spring time sun or biting into a home grown apple picked fresh off the tree. Gardening is truly a rewarding experience.

By for now and "Happy Gardening"
Sarah =)

Welcome to "Watching things grow"

Hi my name is Sarah and I'd like to warmly welcome you to "Watching things grow".
This blogs purpose is to share with everyone my personal journey to create a beautiful, productive and well thought out garden. I love succulents, Australian natives, and produce plants. I also love all things rusty, creative and repurposed. I'd love to share my knowledge and experiences with particular plants, how to grow and use them, how to turn old things into new things and how to make things work well together, even if it's not "traditional" to do so.
I generally go by the rule "If I like it and it looks good, it goes in my garden"
I'll also be writing about chickens, composting, trees, growing seeds and cuttings, gardening with kids and much more.
I hope you'll follow and share with me my passion for gardening and creating something unique, stunning and vibrant.

By for now and "happy gardening"
Sarah =)