2018 garden thread!

[begreen]

We live in a dramatic microclimate zone. Our area gets about half the rainfall just 10 miles north and half that of Seattle. We are often in sun while Seattle north is cloudy and often rainy. Sometimes that's good, but it's hard on some trees. We have a large coastal redwood that is struggling after 3 very dry summers.

 

[begreen]

Here's our current crop. We'll be picking lettuce and spinach soon. The cuke in the background is 2' tall now and setting its first cucumber. All the starter plants are destined for outdoors. Our last frost date is April 30th.

 

[Dobish]

i went to the botanical gardens the other day and they had some great raised beds. I pretty much want to landscape my back yard like the kids area...

they had a ton of tree stumps and wood blocks made out of trees that made me laugh. I said to my wife... "I think its hillarious that we paid to come visit a place that is basically our back yard..."

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I noticed yesterday that leafy greens planted outside are beginning to poke up out of the soil.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

One of our cucumbers bit the dust. I’m thinking it may have been too much sun reflecting from the corner of the container. In the other corner I had a plant that needed to be thinned, so I moved that one. We’ll see if it can survive the shock as it’s going to be 85 and very sunny today.

The other plants seem to be doing well. We harvested a small leek to add to our meal yesterday (mostly because it needed thinning).

I also obtained some old wine bottles from a neighbor who had a soirée over the weekend. I used to have a collection of glass bottles that I would upend in containers that didn’t have a water reservoir, but we didn’t move them with us. I’m glad to be building up a supply again as the weather gets hotter here.

The squirrels figured out that the peaches were ripening. The kids and I enjoyed a few of the early ones, but the squirrels took all the rest over the weekend. Quite sad for my kids. Now I need to get serious about figuring out how to rejuvenate the tree. It hasn’t been maintained over the years and is growing pretty wildly. @EatenByLimestone or @begreen, any recommended reading on radical pruning of a peach? We didn’t do anything to it this spring because we just didn’t expect spring to come quite so quickly as it did in this part of the world.

 

[begreen]

If the tree need serious pruning, spread it out over a few years and don't take more than a third productive growth per year. Pay attention to major limbs that are the best fruit producers. In our area I would be waiting until August to do summer pruning of a peach and that would just be pinching back more aggressive growth. Sap flow is less in late summer and the tree won't try to put on vegetative growth. Normally peach trees are pruned in late winter, but you could take out dead wood and branches growing inward or crossing in summer.

Here is Texas A&M guide
(broken link removed)
https://www.starkbros.com/growing-guide/how-to-grow/fruit-trees/peach-trees/pruning

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Thanks for those links, Begreen. I had read the Texas A&M guide before as they are one of my go-to sites for this area. I found the Stark Brothers to be more helpful, though, and hadn’t found that article.

The previous owners of this house loved plants and trees, and there has obviously been pruning done over the years, but it either wasn’t kept up in recent years, or they just didn’t know how to do it effectively. The peach tree is far too large with fruiting growth upwards of 15 feet. There are young fruit (apple and Asian pear) that have been planted as well, but they look as though they’ve not been pruned at all. We’ve got lots of work to do, and we won’t get to it all either. Right now our focus is on pulling up invasives before they set seed (horehound and privet), so it will be nice to put off worrying about fruit trees till later.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Every year I trim the majority of the suckers off my peach tree. Otherwise I end up with way too much fruit and have to worry about branches breaking. The tree looks absolutely bald after pruning. Yet the next spring I'm taking 6 + foot long suckers off again. To try to get ahead of this a bit I tried something new last year. I tried light summer pruning. Suckers that would never stay were trimmed to help light and air through. If I found a sucker growing down I snipped it off. If it was crossing another, similar fate. Plenty was left for late winter hacking.

I think if I were going to try to get a tree under control I'd start with the 1/3 rule mentioned above. It sure seems that the tree puts 50% more volume on every year though! I'd probably use a handsaw and start shaping. I'd start cutting larger branches that were higher than you want to reach for fruit. I keep mine trimmed so I can harvest off a 4 foot step ladder.
I might hit the top first year and start shaping the vase. 2nd year I'd take the suckers off that poke above where you want as they would be hard to harvest and start working out cutting off crosses. I think you'll find that'll take a good amount of volume out.

The 3rd year I'd probably hit the top, work out the new crosses, and then cut some more off. Peaches are heavy producers. You may find yourself pulling unripe fruit off to lighten the load.

The moment I see the fruit attacked by squirrels I set traps for them. I also start my harvest. Use a burlap or hemp type bag and refrigerate with lots of air movement. They produce so much ethylene they will overripren over night and spoil!

 

[begreen]

Our main issue is peach leaf curl. This year I am going to make winter covers for them to deal with this problem.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I know it’s not the right time to take action, but every time I walk by the peach tree I find myself trying to figure out where to begin. It’s hard to capture the full sprawl of the tree with a photo, but here’s a shot of it. The photo makes it look a little shorter than it is because it’s taken from above, but my five-foot-tall daughter is standing in the open vase to give some perspective.

There is some dead wood that we need to remove obviously, and we will also be removing the huge bushes that are growing up into it. They are showing signs of being infected with a fungus that will eventually kill them anyway. We haven’t gotten to it because there’s only so much we can handle at one time, and we’re still in the process of clearing up a privet hedge.

We also need to trim back the live oak, but we need to do that in the fall or winter to be safer from oak wilt infection.

I’m actually okay with not working to maximize peach harvest as one of my children is allergic to salicylates in food, and peaches have a high content. I do want to help the tree be healthy and productive and maintain it properly. I know it will take some time to restore it, but if anything jumps out at you as a “begin here” cut, I’d be grateful for the pointers.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

Can't really see enough to give advice on what to cut, but walk by it with a saw. If you see something that looks bad, cut it off. Next week, do it to another that needs to be removed. If the saw is sharp, you won't hurt the tree. Going at it that slow will allow you to avoid the 1/3 rule too.

 

[begreen]

Too hard to tell what is safe to cut by this one picture. We would need several shots from different sides of the tree. It would be easier to comment if you have a picture of the peach tree without leaves. The long sprawling limb that heads over the fence looks like a candidate but the question is where. Without seeing that entire limb in detail I hesitate to make a recommendation.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

Yes, sorry about the picture. I’ll see what more I can find or take. It will probably be easier when some of the other greenery is out of the way, but that will probably be a while. I think I know to start with dead wood, so that’s the first thing. In studying the tree, there is more than at first meets the eye.

 

[begreen]

Planted corn yesterday. I sprouted the seeds first. Hoping to see baby shoots poking up by next week. Broccoli, brussel sprouts, spinach and lettuce are all growing well outside. I have a few tomatoes outside too. So far they look happy.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I put 5 tomatoes in the ground yesterday. I was afraid they'd get root bound soon. I've never had them in this early. Zucchini is in too! Our frost free date is may 8th, so I'm crossing my fingers and watching the weather closely.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

You just reminded me that I need to sprout some einkorn wheat (for eating, not planting).

My son’s corn is growing, but I’m thinking it may need more nitrogen. It’s more yellow than I would like to see.

Our excitement is that our pimientos finally sprouted. I decided just to go ahead and start them outdoors, and I knew there would be some cool time, and peppers always seem so slow to me, but I was just beginning to wonder if they would really come up when the five year old spotted the green shoots yesterday. That was exciting.

We’re having some cloudy weather this week and some occasional showers. I’m hoping that my larger rain barrel will get some water in it. The rain has to be strong enough for the flow off the roof to hit just right as we don’t have gutters and downspouts—something that shocked me about moving to Texas. Last week we had a storm so strong the water overshot and hit the overflow barrel, but it was more full than the original. I had raised both barrels onto cinderblock bases and had bailed water from the larger into the overflow so that I could lift it. It’s been gray and moist this week but not enough rain to cause water to stream off the roof. Storms may be coming later this week, though.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I never had much luck with peppers. Last year I read that their ideal soil temperature is something like 85F. That's considered a pretty hot day here. I doubt the soil gets close to that a couple inches down.

 

[peakbagger]

Considering I looked out at fresh snow on the summits near my home, it may be few weeks before the soil dries out. This years plan is to try "garden mats". These are a geotextile mats with holes cut in them for the plants. They are supposed to keep the weeds down, warm up the soils and cut down moisture loss from my soaker hoses.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I gathered extra leaves to attempt something new like that. After the plants become established I'll put a layer around them. It's worked with mulch in the past, but free and local... off my street, deserves attention. Grass clippings and leaves prepared a spot where i plan to put in a new asparagus and strawberry bed later this month when my plantlets arrive.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I never had much luck with peppers. Last year I read that their ideal soil temperature is something like 85F. That's considered a pretty hot day here. I doubt the soil gets close to that a couple inches down.

Maybe I’ll have a bumper crop then (not really since I only planted a few anyway). I think soil temps average 85 by early July here. I’m actually worried that my garden area might get too much sun, something I’ve never been concerned about before.

 

[DuaeGuttae]

I gathered extra leaves to attempt something new like that. After the plants become established I'll put a layer around them. It's worked with mulch in the past, but free and local... off my street, deserves attention. Grass clippings and leaves prepared a spot where i plan to put in a new asparagus and strawberry bed later this month when my plantlets arrive.

I have many childhood memories of asparagus and strawberries from my mother’s garden. She fed us from that garden year-round (canning, freezing, and drying). I think those are great choices in a home garden.

 

[EatenByLimestone]

I covered over my old asparagus bed last year. I wanted to use the area for more regular garden space. The new bed will be on the other side of the lawn so it'll be easier to ignore once harvest is over. I've seen plenty of it growing up wild in the woods, so the leaves will be able to feed it and keep weeds down.

 

[Chimney Smoke]

I turned over and fertilized half of my garden beds yesterday. Need to do the rest and add some fresh compost on top this weekend. My brocolli starts will likely get planted this weekend. I was pretty surprised to see the first couple asparagus poking out yesterday. Got lots of pepper and tomato seedlings under the lights but I'll probably start leaving them outside now that temps look to stay in the 60's during the day.

 

[begreen]

Yes, it's asparagus time. I picked about a dozen spears yesterday. They kind of surprised me. A couple were 18" tall. Whoops. Will check them daily now.

 

[Dobish]

i need to plant asparagrass. I used to have some at the old place, and it was finally ready to eat the year we moved out.
My poppies and my peonies are popping though!