Four More Trees

1  December 2020

 Yesterday we were in Lefkada for something and on an impulse, called into the garden centre.  It was one of those impulses, which leaves you with a car full of new plants, including three stuck out through the passenger window!

I had to squash in the back with the shopping

So, bright and early the next morning, we were pickaxing out planting holes for the trees.  We started with the hardest two - the new Mulberries to be planted in the dead ground which has been under the 'Zone' for years - no soil, lots of stones, and in one hole - a big root from a broom plant.

Unfortunately, Dave's wrist clicked early on, and he was relegated to giving me advice while I did the pickaxing.  Eventually, we had both trees in deep holes, staked against wind damage and topped off with half a sack of manure along the terrace trench.  We decided to do the whole trench as it gives us some planting room for beans to help feed the soil.

We used up the last of this useful little package from the RHS which promotes the growth of mycorrhizal fungi in the root zone.  Best to give them all the help we can.

After planting out the other two trees as well: another lemon and another Robinia - planted as a shade tree and nitrogen fixer for our stunted little mandarin trees, we scraped up enough cardboard (having found a long-forgotten stash behind the shed) to cover the manure all round.

Here is the lemon - planted behind one of the Robinias - we decided to get another lemon and try it in a more sheltered location to see if it benefits from less sun.  Our two existing lemon trees suffer terribly from leaf-miners and haven't produced a lemon between them for years.

Our other two plantings were a couple of fruiting shrubs in the new forest garden beds - we couldn't get more than two in the car, and Dave was skeptical as we have failed to keep either of these alive in the past.  But I insisted, we have to keep trying, and we have a planting area ready.