Love your video, Marcus! What a beautiful yard you have, my gosh, the grape vines!! Reminds me of my grandparents’ home up in Vancouver, BC. They had a really old grape arbor covered with a 100 year old Concord grapevine. When I was really little, I used to go out in their gorgeous backyard, and lay on my back under the arbor. If I was very quiet and still, the birds would fly in, under the arbor to sneak a grape. I loved watching the birds so close. Guess I was lucky I never got pooped on, lol!!
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that is an intense shot. And if there was a video with audio, it would have been more graphic!
i’ve seen cats clamber up trees to raid nests here too, and would only hear frantic bird-cries and then silence…
I wish that snake would come to my yard and get rid of some birds and especially some squirrels for me. LOL! Snakes are welcome at the Toole household as long as they are not poisonous or big enough to eat my cat. LOL!
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An ornamental vegetable garden of an American I know well…
…and some random wildlife with aesthetic appeal open to debate.
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Very lovely, Mike! What kind of snake is that in the tree? And, you can squash that Tomato Hornworm. You have my permission.
Patty S.
I have so many birds in my yard most years, I sometimes get pooped on just walking from the front door to the car. That’s what I get for growing huckleberries. Birds love them and it seems to have a laxative affect on them. They make quite a mess on my car. As I said, king snakes, rat snakes, coach whips, corn snakes and black racers are welcome. God bless.
Marcus
Sorry, I have no idea on the snake. It was just hanging out up there with some birds chattering at it.
Patty, I think your yard is beautiful and yet at the same time I wonder if your budget for labor and materials is far above the average member of the forum here?
No, not really, Richard. Much of the landscaping was in prior to us buying our home. I just “added to”. And, the “budget for labor” is exactly the same as yours is, in fact. I have a gardener who comes just once a week. He stays about one to two hours (my husband disputes two hours, but I know he’s been here a few times that long.) He has a helper. He does just the basic stuff. My husband and I do all the rest believe it or not 
As far as budget for plants - I buy a lot less than many of our forum members. I am often envious of all the fruit trees folks have, but then, I have to remember, I and my family and friends can only eat so much fruit, and Dave and I can only take care of so many trees. But thank you very much for thinking it is “far above the average member of the forum”. That means I’m doing a good job!
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Yes!
I know why I garden, I wouldn’t do it if I didn’t have a reason to. I used to grow just ornamental plants, but the beauty alone was not enough. For all the work i wanted something more. That led me to edibles, and is currently where I reside. I do like the idea of edible landscapes. Patty does a great job, very nice. My attitude is more like Fruitnut’s though. If my wife wasn’t here, the whole place would be a jungle of fruit. I don’t really care what it looks like. Beauty is always pushed back for more fruit. If I can do both good, but that is optional.
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This is beautiful. Well done.
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I actually appreciate your bluntness, as I too am American and communicate in the same manner.
I don’t think one should be concerned about my orchard, as the topic should be subjective. What’s beautiful is what you find beautiful. Some people like just having the trees for fruit, they are practical people - and that’s okay. I had a feeling this post would grab a lot of attention If anybody would like to see what my backyard looks like, I believe it was called “putting up” I would be more than happy to oblige your request. Here is a LINK to some Angelique Tulips planted under my tree. They were spectacular but last a short time. In my backyard, I do not plant very close to the trees, but I do plant lavender. As they are perennials they are dormant right now. If browses the blog, they will see all sorts of gardening stuff I enjoy.
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I am an American too
To answer your question, “Why do mothers from Washington have such poorly groomed children?” First, I have to agree with your question. Seattle Times Posted About The Same Issue. LINK
Ironic your analogy turned out to be a true one. But I get your point. My response is pretty simple: feeling offended is not an argument. Everyone feels offended at something.
Instead of ugly, would you have preferred…“unattractive, unappealing, unpleasant, hideous, unlovely, unprepossessing, unsightly, horrible, frightful, awful, ghastly”? Would those words be approvable.
Maybe, in case we come across a very delicate snowflake, we can uses even more politically correct words, such as “aesthetically challenged”
Why are American Backyard Orchards so Aesthetically Challenged?. Does that please thee ?
By the way, why are so many people thinking I am not American? I’m as American as apple pie and baseball.
Based on your texts, I assumed English isn’t your first language, and perhaps some others had the same impression. Ok, never mind.
Patty, your orchard is so lovely! What are the plants with pink blooms on the last photo?
Who said anything about “feeling offended” being an argument? There was never an argument advanced in the first place and so one need seek no rejoinder. This is about some basic level of courtesy and of course the omnipresent phenomenon of internet trolling.
I have seen this script over and over again, and generally executed with a great deal more finesse. You want to lob a bomb and then act surprised when it has its desired effect. Why you are so naive you can’t even wrap your head around why people would be irritated, they must be insecure snowflakes… certainly nothing you did warrants anyone taking offense!
Yes, this is clearly a problem with your word choice and not the opinion you espoused or how/where you chose to do so.
Oh yes, lets watch out for delicate snowflakes. We wouldn’t want to possibly step on one of their tender toes. You certainly wouldn’t, right? Your motives are of course as pure as can be. You are just trying to get to the bottom of why [group]'s [noun] is so [unattractive, unappealing, unpleasant, hideous, unlovely, unprepossessing, unsightly, horrible, frightful, awful, ghastly].
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Hey folks, please, let’s leave personality and who said what and “snowflake” comments out of this thread going forward. If the point of this thread is to argue for the sake of arguing, it’s hard to see its relevance to a forum about gardening. If it’s about making home orchards more beautiful, then lets run with that subject.
Naomi it would be nice to see you interact more with what I presume to be the subject matter of the topic you introduced and less with the question of whether your OP was offensive or not. I would love to hear more about your strategy for beautifying your orchard. Folks I’m not a moderator, but seriously this tit for tat has nothing to do with growing fruit, and it has potential to poison the feel of the site. All the above is just my opinion. God bless.
Marcus
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Under my older trees, the whole drip zone is a mass of surface roots. I don’t know how removing, planting into, or even ignoring is not going to be bad for my trees. It would be great if someone could explain how damaging roots is a good thing? I tried to plant under a tree, and I discovered all these roots, and abandoned the idea as I could not get myself to damage the roots.
I noticed under trees less than 5 years old, this is not much of an issue, but on these old trees, the roots are right there.
One gorgeous garden!
More than one, in fact
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