Gardening

the Jester · Wednesday at 3:42 PM

It's hard work, but it's sooo rewarding eating what you grow.

We have a lot of fruit trees that haven't produced yet because they've only been in the ground a year or two; but eventually we'll have blood oranges, kumquats, mandarins, tangelos, limes, Meyer lemons, figs, and apples, as well as the cherries, nectaplums, plums, apricots, and grapes (not a tree, I know) that we're already getting.

On top of that, we have a bunch of herbs and veggies- rosemary for days, oregano, mint, lemon thyme, peas, about three types of beans, squash, tomatoes, peppers, lettuce, spinach, pak choi, potatoes, radishes... I'm probably overlooking something.

There are also berries: blackberries, raspberries, goji berries, and several others that haven't produced yet: blueberries (brand new), honey berries, and josta berries.

Oh, and there's a dragonfruit (which also hasn't produced) and a mango tree that I don't think will make it in our climate but we're trying.

thirdkingdom · Wednesday at 6:18 PM

Ooh, an Enworld garden thread. Will have to start posting pics when I get a chance.

Kaodi · Wednesday at 6:25 PM

Morrus said:
This is it in June after 3 months of labour:

View attachment 433942

I loathe both gardening and yardwork (for the most part) but you have a really nice place there, Morrus.

Dannyalcatraz · Wednesday at 10:36 PM

Gardening/yardwork Tip: if you have vines near a wooden fence, you need to keep a close eye on the fence’s condition.

We’ve been in this house since 1998, and originally, we had a big trellis of crossvine near the back alley section our wooden fence. When it was in bloom, it looked great and attracted all kinds of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

Winds knocked down other parts of the fence, but not that section. We figured the crossvine was protecting it.

Well…not quite.

When my folks decided to replace the wooden fence with a metal one (to minimize future maintenance and replacement costs), we had to take down the trellis and remove the crossvine. This is what was revealed:

Our dogs could have gotten out of the yard at any time, but even though they went underneath the vines, the growth into the alley outside was so dense it looked like it was like a solid wall. We couldn’t see through, and neither could they.

After the work was done, that corner looked more like this:

(We’ve been replanting that area with some nice shrubs.)

jian · Wednesday at 11:34 PM

Dannyalcatraz said:
Gardening/yardwork Tip: if you have vines near a wooden fence, you need to keep a close eye on the fence’s condition.

We’ve been in this house since 1998, and originally, we had a big trellis of crossvine near the back alley section our wooden fence. When it was in bloom, it looked great and attracted all kinds of bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.

View attachment 434088
Winds knocked down other parts of the fence, but not that section. We figured the crossvine was protecting it.

Well…not quite.

When my folks decided to replace the wooden fence with a metal one (to minimize future maintenance and replacement costs), we had to take down the trellis and remove the crossvine. This is what was revealed:
View attachment 434086
View attachment 434087
Our dogs could have gotten out of the yard at any time, but even though they went underneath the vines, the growth into the alley outside was so dense it looked like it was like a solid wall. We couldn’t see through, and neither could they.

After the work was done, that corner looked more like this:
View attachment 434091
(We’ve been replanting that area with some nice shrubs.)

Yeah, it’s not unlike the issue with some tree roots (especially willows) anywhere near fences or structures, which is that they could do some significant damage to the stability. A colleague once had a willow tree removed more than 40’ from their house because they were affecting the pipes. General advice is at least 50’ distance, which is a hell of a threat range for attacks of opportunity.

thirdkingdom · Thursday at 12:13 AM

Photo from last fall. Asian persimmons.

BookTenTiger · 2026-04-11T04:09:20+0100

BookTenTiger said:
We were living for a while in San Francisco, in a neighborhood that was encased in fog for 25 - 100% of each day. The apartment building had a little shared back yard that we adopted. We pulled all the weeds and dropped cuttings of succulents into the sandy soil. By the time we left we had a lovely succulent garden.

Now we are in Atlanta. It's rainy and sunny most of the year. Our soil is very clay-heavy but also full of good bugs. Everything grows here! I've been able to cultivate a yard as well as a number of trees and flowering bushes. We have an herb garden in the back with rosemary, thyme, sage, and chives, and garden boxes in the front that we plant seasonally. The fig tree I planted almost 4 years ago is finally fruiting!

I love spending time out in the garden. It takes a lot of work in the Spring and Summer, but in the winter everything freezes and I don't have to mow the lawn, which is nice.

Here are some pictures I took today.