GARDENING BLOG
Diary week three Jan 14th - Jan21st
2005
Pruned the old apple tree in the back garden for the first
time in years and it looks quite sparse now. Planted three rows of shallots
in Geoffs end apiary plot. Moved more Snowdrops and aconites from the old
apiary to the allotment.
2004 Saturday 16th Sunday 17th 2004
Saturday was not so dry and I spent the day on a visit to the bee equipment supplier and Reads nursery and later in the garage making up a new bee hive. I have to give a talk on beekeeping after the allotment committee meeting and that that showing how a complete hive is put together maybe worth doing.
Sunday was a bright sunny day and we had to agree on a site for our new green house.
At this time of the year it is easy not only to see which broad beans are missing in a row but to transplant new ones to replace those that have been stolen by rodents or birds. My hedge of blackberries gets pruned and cleaned up once a year. It is in fact not just blackberries but also Mirabelle or Cherry plums (I'm not sure you can strictly call mine Mirabelle) planted along the row plus a peach and a couple of dog roses for the wildlife. Underneath it's the most shaded spot on my plot.
The old blackberry canes burn well and will in turn get spread as ash on the grown one rainy day in the future.
Planted out a few lettuce under Geoff's warm south facing fence.
2000
Saturday the 15th sees my first visit to the apiary this year. A sad sight. The apiary is surrounded by sweet chestnut trees who's wet soggy fallen leaves are every where smothering all kinds of over wintering herbs and 'bee' plants. I uncovered the hollows in the rock garden before setting to work on weeding the first brave flowers of the year. The yellow winter aconites have been planted with the bees in mind. If there are any nice warm sunny days in the next few weeks some of the bees will be out looking for early flowers.
1999
Week three Jan 15th - Jan 21stPruning and planting more shallots.
My allotment has three old apple trees. The middle tree is a Worcester Pearman. Although a bright red apple I don't find it a particularly pleasant eating apple and it doesn't keep. It also won't stay on the tree for long when it's ripe, one gale at the wrong time and the floor is carpeted with windfalls. This particular tree suffers quite badly from canker, as in fact do all my old trees. But it crops organic fruit reliably every year and I understand is a great pollinator for the other varieties, so I won't remove it, as one may be tempted to do.
I am pruning it hard however, removing all the branches below head height in order to grow as much as underneath it as possible. I'm trying to find the right combination of plants so that the ground is clear when the apples begin to drop. This year I'm growing tulips (looking back this wasn't a great success and I won't grow them there again - currently I'm growing broad beans there and moving some to fill in the gaps in rows elsewhere).
Hard pruning an old apple tree is a matter of patience cutting one or two large branches off each year. After several years the job on this tree is nearly done.
Thompson & Morgan - Online Catalogues and Gardening Information
