I may end up moving this year or next if my forever home is found, and will need to start my garden and orchard from scratch. Nows the time to start planning and making any big choices. Which made me wonder, what would I do differently at a new home.
Anyone want to share what you would do differently if you were starting from scratch again?
Here’s me thinking out loud…
My basic first thoughts are how can I plant my trees and beds for my impeding aging and how can I plant to limit physical input needed as I do age.
Would getting contractor grade fabric be a better idea to avoid labor of adding mulch and weeding so much in tree lines? Would cement edged or metal beds be a better choice than wood that will need replaced in smaller beds. Should I focus on rootstock that will stay smaller so I can get fruit sooner and have more variety?
Any advice on what I might want to keep in mind when starting from scratch again? What would you do differently?
I would plan on a mix of rootstock. Dwarfing for vigorous. Semi or full standard for low vigor varieties. Recall heat and light soils naturally dwarf too.
Not move all the common plants i have and sold my common variety peach trees for 200$ when that random dude offered me money for them because he was so impressed by the peaches on a tree in pot
Buy a home with mostly cleared land because land clearing costs just about as much as a brand new car for an acre of clearing…
I’ve consider these issues. I’m 73, retired, working hard outside most days. But I realize that I can’t keep it up forever. My wife and I will likely “downsize” within the next 10 years. Yes, I know that I’d be lucky to live so long but I seem healthy and my grandfather died at 103 so I’m hoping to be gardening for a while longer.
I don’t think it’s wise to eliminate all physical work. “Use it or lose it” applies. You want the garden to force you to stay active. That said, the work does not need to be strenuous. Above all, you want to avoid serious injuries that would enforce inactivity, which leads to muscle atrophy. My quick thoughts:
Plant in a space that minimizes the necessity for hauling heavy stuff up and down hills. For example, the garden should be at the same elevation as the garage.
Plant dwarf or semi-dwarf varieties to minimize the necessity for you to climb a ladder to prune, harvest. Falling is one of your most serious risks. Minimize that risk.
Before you begin, eradicate weeds thoroughly in any space intended for planting. Then mulch to discourage new weeds. Then mow nearby regularly to reduce risk of weed seeds spreading. You want to eliminate the need for weeding, as much as possible.
Never turn your soil – that just exposes weed seeds. Just move the mulch to the side, sow your seeds or plant your seedlings, then return the mulch to cover any soil 1" or more from where the seeds will sprout / seedlings grow. It’s minimum till gardening.
Plant only as many trees as you can easily tend, harvest, use. For example, for a single couple I can imagine a maximum of 3 dwarf apple trees, 2 semi-dwarf pear trees, 1-2 Asian or hybrid persimmons, a few blueberries . . . . Do slightly more only if you plan to make jam, freeze or dry fruit.
Try to plan the crops so that the harvests do not overlap much. In particular, avoid an avalanche in autumn. A steady stream is ideal – floricane red raspberries, floricane black raspberries, goumi berries, mulberries, floricane blackberries, blueberries, primocane red raspberries . . . . Maybe a peach tree (late July / early August), early and late apples and pears (August through November), some persimmons that you can harvest in October/November then ripen indoors. Not too much of each.
Grow nothing large in pots. Watering is a PIA. Grow nothing that requires special treatment (e.g., winter storage) to survive. That’s too much work. Moving big pots twice a year is too much strain.
If you live in a location where pests are an issue, seriously consider constructing fences (high plastic or wire plus low chickenwire) before you start planting to exclude deer, woodchucks, raccoons, squirrels, rabbits, etc. from the growing area. If necessary, erect a frame over berries to support netting to deter birds.
I could probably think of more. That’s enough for now.
Basically just do weeds and soil differently for me
I would consider more large scale soil amendments/replacement up front. What I have is just not great. Definitely soil tests right away.
Possibly also doing a major weeds treatment with something like glyphosate a year before planting. I’m trying to do organic and managing bindweed coming in from the ditches and fencelines is pretty much impossible.
Do irrigation up front. As much as I think the obsession with lawns is dumb, if I had been regularly watering and mowing my grass, the weeds would not be nearly so bad.
Also I would do more cardboard sheet mulching on every bit of dirt I dig up. Landscape fabric doesn’t work and makes a mess, and mulch alone doesn’t suppress weeds as much.
Don’t get rid of my deer protection cages. I had to rebuy them all over as trees will die or have to be removed and more trees will replace them. In short, you are never done.
Don’t bother with a garden, except for a couple of tubs on the deck for basil, sage and mint. You have to be a slave to the garden to do it right. Trees when established, are self-sufficient more or less. And if they are not…pull em!
Keep track of my plums. They all got bad black knot and had to be pulled out. Maybe they could have been saved if I nipped the black knot in the bud. But I didn’t know what it was.
Pay better attention when trees need support.
Lots more, but those are the first things that come to mind.
Get your rootstocks ordered asap, one or two winters before you move. And order a few extra: they are cheap ($3-6 each), some will die, and you will discover new varieties that you “need” to have. You can grow them in 5 gallon buckets during the year before you move. If you wait until spring or summer to order, they’ll generally be unavailable. Pick roostocks that can accept a range of species.
Doing this will also gives you time to finalize your variety selections and find good sources for scions. You can graft onto rootstocks of any age, although the tree will form better if grafted young. You can also put as many varitieties on each tree as you like (its possible to do 100-in-1 multi-graft trees, though not recommended).
The first things I think about are soil and climate. You need good soil for what you want to grow. And a climate that’s conducive to success. Since you are now zone 3/4 I’d move south. You’ll be able to grow a lot more things. If staying where you are, there aren’t many dwarf rootstocks for those cold zones.
It would help if you described more about what you want to grow and if you are open to relocating. When I retired, I moved from Texas to California just for the vastly better growing conditions. I later moved back to a much better location in Texas for health reasons. I don’t regret the move to CA at all. It was a great experience.
Don’t let your trees get too big. Anything over say, 8’ is too hard to manage.
If you do multi-grafts keep the number low. It’s fun to have two dozen varieties on one tree but it would be much more workable to have five or six smaller trees.
I second the advice about the vegetable garden from @Zone6. Maybe grow a few greens and tomatoes, some herbs and a favorite pot veggie (I love fresh green beans, for example) but I would rather spend most of my growing time on fruits.
That’s a great mindset and it’s smart to plan ahead for both ease of maintenance and long-term enjoyment. I’d definitely lean toward contractor-grade landscape fabric or even gravel mulch in tree rows to reduce weeding and cut down on the need for constant mulching as you get older. Raised beds with metal or concrete edging can save a lot of hassle too since they won’t rot like wood and you won’t need to rebuild them every few years. Choosing dwarf or semi-dwarf rootstocks is a solid idea because they’re easier to manage, produce sooner, and let you grow more varieties in less space, which makes harvesting and pruning much less demanding. Also consider drip irrigation with timers to minimize watering work, and plant trees where you’ll have easy access with a cart or wheelbarrow. Finally, leave plenty of space between plantings so you don’t end up with overcrowding that needs thinning later. Good luck !
All flower beds have mine have masonry edging and I wouldn’t change a thing.
I’d be leery about landscaping fabrics. I do think they’re appropriate, but not necessary under creek rock beds and ditches where zero vegetation is planned. I live in the SE and the rains can get heavy. Any material that impedes water absorption will cause more problems than it helps. Creating dry creek beds has helped excessive water events. They look quite spiffy as well.
Intergrated passive irrigation is something to look into as well. Pipe your roof water to water thirsty plants. I have pop ups in my blueberry beds.
Strawberries and blueberries do very well when planted along sidewalks. Peach trees and apple trees are happier when the roots can grow under a sidewalk or driveway.
Downsizing is everything when it comes to surviving aging gracefully. Getting the most out of every plant or bed really is the key to not being overly taxed. Exhaustion between 85-90 can result to hip and leg breaking falls. Keep things level, tight, accessible.
“When established, trees are more or less self sufficient” - that is downright funny. I own 400 acres - seven miles of trail, 40 acres of food plots, a garden - and I spend more time in the orchard than all others - combined. Watering, spraying, mowing, weed eating, pruning, FIGHTING EVERY ANIMAL THAT DOES STEAL YOUR FRUIT. On rare occasions, we even get to pick something. Fruit trees are the devil.
Not really a do differently so much as a do now…
Get a couple of air layers on everything big you might want to have at a new place. I’d shoot for three for every one you want ot have. You can always sell or give away extras, but it’s hard to wait several extra years for things to start fruiting again, and not everything is cheap to simply replace or easy to dig up. most of them you can simply go around and cut off right before you pack the truck, and you can always turn them into scionwood (or a bridge graft) if you find you have a preexisting option to modify to better advantage.
I would have kept my caneberries from tip rooting. That was a bad mistake and still haunts me to this day. I would have made raised beds out of pressure treated wood instead of standard lumber. I use a mini tiller in my beds so metal or concrete wouldn’t be a good a idea. If I didn’t metal would be perfect.
Put in long growing things like fruit trees in as soon as possible. Don’t wait five years But set aside some room for expansion. Keep it as lawn or something until you are ready to put plants in it. You will learn about new plants and cultivars you will want to try.
Adjust the pH a year early for anything that needs a weird pH. Like blueberries
I can’t really say what works best. Each species is prone to being a bit different.
If something can be layered on the actual ground, I would go that route if you have the space for whatever pot you ended up planting in.
I tend to like the idea of the little balls you use for air layering for a move. You can use bottles or small pots or simply saran-wrap with foil to block the sunlight on new roots, but the balls sugges a cleanness and orderlyness for a bunch of plants during a move to me. Less spill and potential to crush new roots with something that can take a bit more of a hit. And a lot of soil is a heavy thing to move, while most empty pots can be stacked until you’re ready to uppot the plants you’ve migrated.
Things that prefer a tap root will be harder. If you can backup your efforts with your own scionwood as well, it may just mean an extra cooler you’ll keep in the cab rather than in the back of a moving van.
plant the orchard on the north side of the gardening space. place my greenhouse and cattle pen and grape arbor accordingly BEFORE I start building beds or planting perennials.
put the currants and gooseberries in the right spot from the start instead of needing to move them
get irrigation set up in the simplest way, then build around that (high desert area) using swales and stuff
get another chip drop before they started being afraid of a cable wire?!? and refusing to bring more
I cleared my land myself and it was so much work. Then you have to remove stumps or plant around them. I agree with just buying cleared land but here it is much more expensive.
