Saturday, February 13, 2016

Planting Leyland Cyprus to Inhibit Blackberries and Stabilize Soil. 2.13.16

Leyland Cyprus Tree, Anticipating Planting.  2.13.16
This is part of the approx. 1/4 acre that I have been clearing of Himalayan blackberry.  The now - barren looking soil has been planted with grass and clover to retain soil and add nutrients.  The clover also for bee forage.  The grass and clover can be mowed repeatedly, to kill off residual bramble roots and crowns.  I have already added a pine tree and an aspen that are not visible in this photo.

At the back of the photo are massive piles of the blackberry prunings.  Behind them, and behind the trees - mostly Douglas hawthorn and some wild filberts - is the property line, then more of what is mostly Douglas hawthorn, a few maples, and some scattered blackberry brambles.  In that location, there is more shade, and the blackberries do not grow as well.  Just beyond those trees, the land slopes fairly steeply into a ravine and creek.

As discussed by Tao Orion (Beyond the War on Invasive Species) - highly recommended book - I have not used Roundup / glyphosate or other herbicides to remove the blackberries.  Which is good.  Roundup would also kill the existing trees.  They should be kept in place as long as possible for habitat and soil preservation, at least until other plants serve those roles.

Unfortunately, most of the hawthorns have reached their age span and many are falling over.  I wanted a fast growing evergreen tree to out-compete existing and new Himalayan blackberry.  Leyland cypress is controversial.  They are fast growing, 3 to 4 feet per year. At a property boundary, their highly vigorous growth can result in landowner disputes.  That will not be an issue here, because the bordering land is semi-wild, cannot be built upon or significantly altered, and my side of the boundary needs soil-holding trees.  Leyland cypress is considered a sterile hybrid of Monterey cypress and Nootka cypress, so despite great vigor, is not capable of being invasive.

The Leyland cypress will effectively shade out the Himalayan blackberry, to the north of these trees.  I'm anticipating many of the rest of the hawthorns to die and fall over, which is clearly evident with about half of the trees in this thicket.  This area does not seem to support growth of seedling hawthorns, either due to shade by larger trees and blackberries, or possible deer eating them.

Planting Sprouted Fingerling Potatoes. 2.13.16

Sprouted Fingerling Potatoes in Furrows.  2.13.16
I have been noting the fingerling potatoes in the garage are sprouted.  I grew them last year in raised containers - stacked concrete tree rings.

It's too early to plant, but they are already sprouted vigorously.  So I planted them.

These are in furrows, with the sprout barely covered with soil.

If they rot in the soil, that's OK.  If they grow, even better.

This is 1/2 of a 4x8 foot raised bed.  For 2 years, this bed grew garlic.  Last summer and fall I grew buckwheat to rebuild the soil.

The other half of this bed may also get potatoes.  I saw starts of Yukon Gold and some red potatoes at Fred Meyer, yesterday.

Planting Fava Bean Seeds. 2.13.16

Fava Bean Botanical Illustration

Fava Bean Seeds.  2.13.16
  Today I planted a packet of fava beans.  The variety was "Windsor", from Johnny's Selected Seeds, although that variety is available via many sources.

The illustration is via Wikipedia, public domain due to age. 

Fava beans have been grown since the bronze age (Wikipedia).  They have been found in Egyptian tombs.  Ancient Greeks and Romans grew them.  They are eaten in cultures around the world, but minimally in the US.  I have never eaten them.

I became interested in favas due to reading about their utility for soil building.  Favas are a kind of legume, different species from the better known American garden beans.  They are very cold tolerant, whereas most beans require warm summer sun and soil.   Favas can survive through the winter in the Pacific Northwest (OSU dept of horticulture), or can be planted as soon as the soil can be worked.  Which is now.  The raised bed soil is easily worked and friable.

Never having grown favas before, let alone eaten them, this is all new to me.  Documenting here as we see what happens.

They are planted deeper than most seeds, due to size.  I planted in furrows  about 1 to 2 inches deep.  After planting, I did not water because it is pouring rain.
Fava Bean Seeds in Furrows.   2.13.16

They will need protection from deer and rabbits.  This raised bed already has chicken-wire fencing to 5 feet, taller than they are expected to grow.  I should add a top of bird netting so the avian herbivores don't dig them up.  Might not be a problem, these are much bigger compared to the pea seeds that birds dig up and eat.

It may be a few weeks to germination, in this cool weather.  Expect to post when that occurs.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Fruit tree bloom times. 2.11.16

Sweet Treat Pluerry Buds.  2.11.16
Current bloom status on fruit trees.

Big fat buds.  Sweet treat pluerry, Hollywood plum, Methley Asian plum, unknown variety of Asian plum.

Fuzzy buds but not showing petal color.  Peaches, Charlotte, Q18/Salish.  Leaf buds of Saijo and Nikita's Gift persimmons.

We are not as far ahead as I had worried.  Last year, full bloom for plums was March 7th.  We might be 2 or 3 weeks early this year.

This will be a good year to see if the Asian/American hybrid plums bloom later than the all-Asian plum varieties.

Euro plums, cherries, pawpaws, apples, most pears, no or minimal bud swell so far.

What's blooming. 2.11.16

Epiphyllum NOID cactus in bud.  2.11.16

Helleborus.  2.11.16
 In february there isn't much blooming here.

In the sunroom, an epiphyllum I picked up for a dollar or two, a couple of years ago at Home Depot.  I didn't know or expect for it to bloom, but there are the flower buds.

Some of the Epiphyllum orchids are blooming in the sunroom.

Helleborus are blooming around the yard.  This one was a volunteer seedling I moved last year from the old yard.
Dendrobium.  2.11.16

Dendrobium.  2.11.16

More Arborist Wood Chips. Bearded Irises. 2.11.16

Another pile of arborist chips.   2.11.16
 I heard the heavy equipment noise down the street and went to check it out.  An arborist was removing the top 15 feet or so from a long tall hedge of Leyland cyprus.  I offerred my driveway as a way to dispose of the chips, which he otherwise needs to pay to get rid of.  So here is another pile of chips.

We have a large area to mulch.  We'll get through them in a month.

I also weeded the bearded iris beds.  Weeds were minimal this time.  The irises have broken dormancy and are growing strong, although that happens each year, then there is extensive leaf spot and bacterial rot, which is frustrating.  Reading multiple sources, they state don't mulch them, that promotes rot.
Mulched Iris Beds.  2.11.16

But they were not mulched for years, and the diseases were a big problem.  I am experimenting now.  Last summer I applied an arborist chip mulch, and they grew very well with, I think, much less disease.

My working theory is the chips are open enough to prevent sogginess, they dry quickly.  Maybe - maybe - the evergrees contain substances that reduce fungal and bacterial diseases.  By applying on top of the soil, rains do not splash spores onto the plants.  If not, and they all die, that's OK - 3 years is long enough to try and be frustrated.  Darwin at work, survive or be replaced.

More chips will go onto the strawberries, and we have a lot of perennial borders and other places in need of the weed suppression and water retention effects during the summer.

Wednesday, February 10, 2016

Allium Family Perennial Vegetables. 2.10.16

Chive Beds and New Raised Bed.  2.10.16
 All of the overwintering Allium family perennial vegetables are growing.

The 2 raised beds of garlic chives broke dormacy last week, now 2 to 2 inches of growth. 

I priced these concrete blocks today at Home Depot.  They were 99 cents each.  I think they are less expensive than the wooden beds, will last longer, and are easier to assemble.  I don't know about thermal properties.  The corners have openings that would be good for posts.
Garlic Chives.  2.10.16

Chives.  2.10.15
Garlic Raised Bed.  2.10.16
Egyptian Walking Onions.  2.10.16
Standard chives are growing fast.

Garlic is showing great growth.  My subjective estimate is the garlic in the raised bed is about  twice as big as the garlic in the ground, probably due to warmer temperature although the soil mix could also be better.

Egyptian Walking Onions are also growing nicely.  I protected them from deer and rabbits this year.  There was still evidence of something foraging - maybe slugs.

Not shown, the new starts of White Potato Onions are about 6 inches tall.  This time around they are also protected from herbivores.  There is no evidence of foraging on those plants.

I'm not concerned about potential frost or freeze.  These are hardy plants.

Planting Bare Root Strawberries. 2.10.16

Bare Root Strawberries.  2.10.16
 I'm on vacation this week and did some gardening today.

These are "Ozark Beauty" everbearing strawberries.  I bought them mail order from Starks.  They don't look like much when dormant but should take off and grow in the warm weather.

I have been preparing the former chili pepper bed for this planting.  Over the past couple of months, I topped off the soil, which was already good from 2 years of amendments and care.  I added a large amount of eggshells for calcium.  This bed received a large bag of Starbuck's coffee grounds a few weeks ago.  I added some urea nitrogen and mixed it all together, smoothed it somewhat, and planted the berries.

This bed is 2 feet by 8 feet, so each berry plant gets slightly under one square foot of soil.
Bare Root Strawberries.  2.10.16
Planted Strawberries, nearly invisible.  2.10.16

Last Year's Strawberry Plants.  2.10.16
I also added chopped cypress mulch to the prior 4 x 4 foot strawberry bed.  That one contains 4 plants of "Pineberry" strawberry, one of a pollinator, and several of unnamed from the front yard.  This bed should bear this year.  The new one might or might not.

Very important for strawberries here, is animal control.  I have each bed surrounded by rabbit fencing and a top of deer fencing,

Thursday, February 04, 2016

Planting Final Fruit Tree Shipment. 2.4.16

Tree Shipment.  Burnt Ridge.  2.4.16

Pawpaw Roots in Airpot.  2.4.16
This was the final tree shipment.  I still have some berrries en route.  This year I planted more than any previous year. Probably enough for a lifetime.

These were from Burnt Ridge Nursery.  All of the trees had amazingly full root systems, intact and healthy appearing.

The pawpaw was interesting.  This pawpaw was taller than any prior purchase.  It was grown in an open-bottom container, which results in a more branched, less wind-around root sustem.  Very nice roots.  I think this tree will be a year ahead of any pawpaw I've planted in the past.

All are planted now.

Allegheny pawpaw, Winecrisp  apple, Sam cherry, Aromatnaya quince. 

Tuesday, February 02, 2016

Grafting a Ginkgo biloba. 2.2.16

Dormant Ginkgo biloba seedling.  2.2.16

Ginkgo biloba whip/tongue applied.  2.2.16
 I have 3 Ginkgo biloba seedlings, each 3 years old, grown from local seeds.  I want a tree from my Dad's Illinois ginkgo tree, for sentimental reasons.  It's now a huge tree, no way to move it to Battleground.

I don't know much about grafting ginkgos.  This may not work.  If they don't take, I should still have trees from the stocks, since they have lots of buds.  I cut the branches, leaving one 1-inch long spur below the graft.  The other branches are flush with the stem.

Grafting was standard whip & tongue method.  Ginkgo stems turn out to be quite soft, pliable, and easily cut with a grafting knife.   Easier than the pears I did last weekend.  They are also rather delicate and easily damaged.

Two of the three are now grafted, wrapped and sealed.  I used ½ inch polyethylene tape for the internal wrapping, works well for a tight wrap.  I over-wrapped with ½ inch Parafilm tape.   I made the ½ inch parafilm tape by cutting one-inch tape with scissors.

This may be too early.  Weather is predicted this week up into the mid 60s.   Given the warm weather, I wanted to graft while still dormant.  The cambium is soft and green. 

Grafted Ginkgo biloba, wrapped.  2.2.16