Backyard Orchard and Bee/Butterfly/Hummingbird Garden

[PlainJane]

We started this after living in the house a few years. I did countless hours of research and a lot of budgeting/saving before kicking it off.

Exposure is southwest. Wish it was southeast but so it goes. The folks behind us have let a border of weed trees grow up on the fence line so roots were going to be an issue. Neighbor on the side has a young pine tree on the fence line so more roots.

Before, left side of yard.

34412C2B-473C-44A1-848D-C07ABD6C86C7.jpeg

Right side, marking out border and making lots of vermicompost.

4A910AF9-38DE-44BC-89AA-FCE90C9ABB11.jpeg

I had a crew clean out the old sod & shrubs, trim the overhanging tree branches and install bamboo barrier 2.5 feet deep around the perimeter. It took a chain saw to get the neighbors tree roots out of there.
All cleared out:

0E9CF040-A6D7-4B71-A7FF-BB2673AE9026.jpeg

Adding bulk compost and homemade vermicompost.

E9A69E84-34D3-415D-91E7-7C9CFC84E53D.jpeg

5804BA06-FB4E-442D-9957-6BFC53D9E0D3.jpeg

Fruit trees going in. Apples, figs, lemon, blueberries, pluots, nectaplum. Chill hours fluctuate wildly year to year, so some of the original choices will probably need swapping.

7A798920-59ED-4529-A797-60B84D73D24E.jpeg

511B1301-AA2E-4832-AB60-833DC79E470B.jpeg

Pollinator and nectar plants next. Even after much research many of them just couldn’t take the humid summers and have been replaced.

DDE54D4C-1001-490E-B0AB-C39B0FDD12A3.jpeg

B2EAEAE6-C317-4B71-8693-B3CD1ACA8F74.jpeg

Stone border wall. A source of much frustration as it’s still in progress but that’s how it goes.

BB6F6538-1E21-4843-977E-C1173636D20E.jpeg

2189B6A9-6BB5-480F-8503-AC914B2B4DA6.jpeg

After 2 years.

0C84FB4E-5246-4153-A9DB-D9094A3D28B6.jpeg

015493A9-F0FC-48BE-87A0-7AE3A2F9F635.jpeg

912145C8-48C1-4002-85D9-238E2F9840A7.jpeg

I’m replacing a pear which never thrived with a low-chill cherry this winter. The nectaplum is next on the replacement list unless it bears fruit this year. The figs, blueberries, pluots and lemon are doing well.

2767A166-8A39-47C3-85D3-781C1E5F57F6.jpeg

[kath]

Wow, what a labor of love and so beautiful! Just an amazing transformation.

[PlainJane]

Wow, what a labor of love and so beautiful! Just an amazing transformation.

Thanks! Lol, a labor love for sure.

Watching the wildlife and harvesting backyard fruit is worth it though.

[MissS]

All of that work sure has paid off. I looks lovely. The change is remarkable and I bet that you spend much of your time out there.

[MsCowpea]

Really beautiful. Amazing transformation. Love the rock and bee/hummingbird beds. Hope you get a lot of fruit.
What is that one plant that has those bell shaped (reddish) flowers or fruit?? Can’t tell from the picture. It is lovely.

[GoDawgs]

Wow! Just plain Wow with several exclamation marks!!!! You've done a great job on this project. It's so beautiful. All that planning paid off handsomely. And I love the rock wall. It's the perfect frame for your landscape "painting".

[Whwoz]

Looking Good!! Love those gardens that are both ornamental and fruitful

[bower]

Gorgeous!!

[PlainJane]

All of that work sure has paid off. I looks lovely. The change is remarkable and I bet that you spend much of your time out there.

Yes, it was worth it. We have so many more birds, especially hummingbirds. The skirmishes over territory are hilarious; I’ve noticed they occasionally even bicker with the giant bumblebees and larger butterflies.
I spend a lot of time watching the bees, too; they’re mesmerizing.

[PlainJane]

Gorgeous!!

Thanks!

[PlainJane]

Really beautiful. Amazing transformation. Love the rock and bee/hummingbird beds. Hope you get a lot of fruit.
What is that one plant that has those bell shaped (reddish) flowers or fruit?? Can’t tell from the picture. It is lovely.

That is Abutilon (flowering maple). I like it as it grows quickly, can withstand frost and the flowers are high off the ground. The cats haven’t caught birds (anoles are an easier target) but no use tempting them.

[PlainJane]

Looking Good!! Love those gardens that are both ornamental and fruitful

Thank you! The most surprising result is the number and variety of bees. We’re in dense suburbia so there must be wild hives nearby. Love watching them.

[PlainJane]

Wow! Just plain Wow with several exclamation marks!!!! You've done a great job on this project. It's so beautiful. All that planning paid off handsomely. And I love the rock wall. It's the perfect frame for your landscape "painting".

Thanks GoDawgs. Like any garden, it’s a constant work in progress. The wall is to the point where only the capstone layer is to do. Walkways are only a suggestion though, so lots of stone still lying about.
Lol, I may have to learn how to lay stone.

[bower]

Incidentally, stone has a big impact on microclimate for plants. It absorbs and releases heat slowly (compared with water for example as a heat storage material) depending on the ambient temperature. In my climate it is helpful for marginally hardy plants to survive the cold swings. French thyme for example, started in beds bordered with rocks, after a few years it was growing out the bottom of those rocks where it got the maximum benefit of the stone. I'm not sure how that would work in your climate, but it's possible the stone would help to moderate high temperatures for plants in proximity? And keep the roots cooler or less subject to extremes, depending on which side of the wall gets full sun exposure.

[PlainJane]

Incidentally, stone has a big impact on microclimate for plants. It absorbs and releases heat slowly (compared with water for example as a heat storage material) depending on the ambient temperature. In my climate it is helpful for marginally hardy plants to survive the cold swings. French thyme for example, started in beds bordered with rocks, after a few years it was growing out the bottom of those rocks where it got the maximum benefit of the stone. I'm not sure how that would work in your climate, but it's possible the stone would help to moderate high temperatures for plants in proximity? And keep the roots cooler or less subject to extremes, depending on which side of the wall gets full sun exposure.

So far I haven’t noticed the stone creating much of a microclimat. Mostly it serves as a long lizard condo, which gives them a fighting chance against the cats.

[PlainJane]

1E8AB95B-F236-4C25-85F6-BAEB1A50C263.jpeg

After observing salvias the last 2 years I’ve come to the realization that in Florida anyway, they can’t take full sun all day.
Today I started the great salvia migration to consolidate them in areas of the orchard that get some shade and filtered sun.
I should have done the moving last month but too much else going on, so it’s now or never.
Looks like hell at the moment but give it a few weeks.

[PlainJane]

The area in front of my Green Ischia fig where some of the salvias were removed from. I took a bunch of cuttings from the David Verity Cuphea in the background and will fill the space with those. I never saw anything root so easily as those Cuphea cuttings.

47B94371-C5B5-4E40-8716-F2E992C671E9.jpeg

[PlainJane]

Composted and watered in. I’ll get some mulch around them tomorrow.

01771A1C-8D48-4E8E-9B70-96BA27706956.jpeg

[Nan6b]

Did you just put raw cuttings into dirt? Do they actually root for you? I've only ever had forsythia do that.

[PlainJane]

Did you just put raw cuttings into dirt? Do they actually root for you? I've only ever had forsythia do that.

No, Nan,
I rooted them in seed starter mix first. They only took 3 weeks to root and I didn’t lose any so I was pretty happy.