Good Morning Everyone.
We had a wonderful rain the last two days, which will be great for my garden, but it kept me from accomplishing anything as far as the latest secession planting of spinach, peas and lettuce goes. Oh, well, everything grows better after the rain.
I've been talking with several friends about getting started with a garden of their own. A few of them have very limited space. It got me thinking about some of the Permaculture principals on the use of vertical space. On a small balcony, gardening in containers can be a challenge. But if you put a couple of trellises against a sunny wall you can espalier a dwarf fruit tree or two. Apples, pears and plums work well this way. Pomagranates also espalier well.
Something new that make excellent use of vertical space are columnar fruit trees. These trees produce on the central trunk of the tree. They can easily be grown in containers or planted directly in the grown as close as 2 feet apart, though some sources say they should be 4 feet apart. I haven't grown any of these myself, but I have seen them at some of the local nurseries. It seems really strange to see the fruit on the trunk, but it makes it easy for picking. There are apple and peaches available in this form. And I imagine more will be developed as time passes.
Although they are considerably more expensive than comparable dwarf varieties, they do have a couple of advantages for seasoned citizens. These varieties often produce fruit in their first season, instead of the third or fourth like the dwarf varieties. I don't know about you, but I tend to be somewhat impatient about things like that.
They also produce much smaller harvest. To me this is a disadvantage, because I like to can and share my production with friends. But for a single person or a couple who don't want to be bothered with more fruit than they can eat fresh, this could be just the thing.
They do reach the same height as other dwarf fruit trees, 8 to 10 feet but only about 2 feet in width. Because of this is it necessary the thin the fruit to avoid breaking branches.
They also must have a second variety that flowers at the same time in order to pollunate and produce fruit.
There are also quite a few berries and grapes that can be trained on a trellis or at least be grown in containers. See my previous posting on container gardening to get specific varieties.
Balconies have railings and I know many of you might be tempted to plant vines using these for support. But remember that this will shade the rest of the balcony during the biggest part of the growing season. This would severly limit growing anything else in containers unless they were elevated above the level of the railing. Also, if you are renting, this should be cleared with your landlord.
I've seen the columnar trees at Lowe's and at Home Depot in my area. If you have trouble finding them, Raintree Nursery also carries them. They can be found at: http://www.raintreenursery.com/catalog/emptycart.cfm.
Well, got to run. I'll be back tomorrow. Until then, keep prepping because what you do matters, and remember, "Just 'cause there's snow on the rooftop, doesn't mean there ain't a fire in the fireplace."
Candy
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