“The month of May was come, when every lusty heart beginneth to blossom, and to bring forth fruit.” — Thomas Malory
Indeed, some of our fruit trees and berries begin to flower at the start of May. Halfway through Spring, our apple trees now have small fruits. We are so excited to see it become big!
It was mid-spring last year (2019) when my father-in law and my kids (trans)planted fruit trees and berries in our garden. These were apple, apricot, cherry, nectarine, peach, redcurrants, blackberry and grapes.
MINI-FRUIT TREES AND BERRIES
All were store-bought, and of mini-fruits variety, also called ‘dwergboom’ or ‘patiofruit’ (literally, dwarf tree or patio fruit) variety. As its variety suggests, it is ideal for anyone who wants to have fruit trees but has little space and/or little time. These mini-fruits doesn’t have to be transplanted, grow up to maximum 140 centimeters, need little tending and yield fruits faster than the standard ones (which take 5 – 8 years).
For me, even though we have enough space in the garden, we opted for the mini variety for three reasons:
- easy caring
- to have several kinds (as they’re also cheaper than the big ones)
- the kids can easily pick the fruits.
What do we exactly have?
We have two Apple trees, both malus domestica ‘Jonagold’; one Peer, pyrus communis ‘Williams’, and one prunus of various kinds, that is, Apricot, prunus armeniaca ‘Hongaarse Beste’; Cherry, prunus avium ‘Kordia’; and Nectarine, prunus persica nucipersica ‘Flavortop’.
As for the berries, we have redcurrant ribes rubrum ‘Jonkheer van Tets’, rubus Blackberry, and three grapevines, of which two are Vitis ‘Boskoop glory’ and one is a Vitis ‘Vroege van der Laan’.
(We also have one more grapevine and a raspberry, but these are already in the garden when we moved in.)
Yes, strawberries, we got them, too! They are a staple in our garden. Since we started gardening, we tried planting them in pots and in the open (volle grond). Both yielded us fruits, but the ones in the pot were enjoyed by the birds! This year, we only have them in the open and put a net for protection. So far, they are growing well and the fruits are starting to ripe!
(UPDATE: we’re able to have enjoyed three harvests already!)
(TIP: Protect your strawberries from the birds by putting up a net. It’s available at the garden stores and garden section of merchandise stores. If you can’t find one, though, you can also DIY a thin plastic sheet cover, make enough holes for ventilation and secure them with sturdy sticks in the ground.)
How did we plant the fruit trees and the berries? And how do we tend to them?
As already mentioned, the plants were ready for transplanting. My father-in-law and the kids first choose the place favourable for each of the tree. For instance, the apple tree needs a full sun while the apricot tree wants to be in a covered warm place, but both prefers the south side of the garden. Planting next to each was also a factor we considered. The prunus are planted in the same area, while the apple and pear trees are
Then, they dug a hole deep enough to plant it in. After putting the mest in the hole, they put the tree and covered it with the dug-up soil. The kids gave them water after transplating them all.
Like the mini-fruit trees, the berries need little tending, too. They are placed against the walls, where they grow best and watered as needed, especially in the warm(er) days. They all get organic fertilizer from our own compost pit and we give them organic fruit and vegetable plant food (e.g. 10ml of it per liter of water). With all this tending, hopefully they all would gift us their fruits. If not, at the very least they’d all grow healthy! So far, it looks promising. Here are the photos I took mid-May this year. Enjoy! ☺️
All Photos: ©️ Purple Pens and Red Pages. 2020.
Purple Pens & Red Pages 