The Backyard Re-creation

Sue laughed at me when we first moved into our house 34 years ago. We moved in Labor Day and by January I was out hunting in lumber yards for the first of our fruit trees.

One of my favorite trees was given to us by my sister. It was a dwarf miniature Bonanza peach tree. Bonanza was one of the first true dwarf peach trees on the market. It is prolific in its production. Its total height is about 8 feet tall.  I planted it in the front yard as a bareroot tree in January. It is still there. Its big fruit is ripe around the second or third week of June. What a treat.

The trees in the back have had some renovation over the years. I started off with three almond trees. I discovered after they were mature that I really didn't like processing almonds and was somewhat allergic to the dust that came off of them as I shelled them. They were cut down or the fell down as the case was with the one in the front yard.

A couple of peach trees thrived in the backyard until they outgrew their lifespan and had to be cut down. One was a  pretty nice Early Elberta and the other was a July Elberta. I tried a couple of cherry trees. They didn't last long either. A late Santa Rosa plum was a real gem. The kids enjoyed swinging on the backyard swings and grabbing ripe plums from it. A reworked backyard took out the Santa Rosa Plum and the turf and some tomato growing boxes. 

During this time an apricot tree of immense proportions was growing in the backyard, producing Tilton apricots every 4th of July. It still produces so many that I run out of patience before the tree runs out of fruit. I pruned it in a  particular way when it reach early adult hood. I took a sawsall to its upward limbs and maintained its height to just a little over 12 feet. Most of the tree is 9 and a half feet tall. It spreads across the backyard covering about 40 feet of fence space. Apricots are sort of hard to find in this valley and this tree certainly fulfills my every need for a fresh apricot in the summer. Each summer I hack off the top branches so that it does not out grow the space. It provides some shade, but its main function is to provide a green barrier between our fence and the neighbor's yard at that height.

In our backyard redo the apricot tree stays. The first thing that had to go were the two palm trees blocking the entrance to the backyard. One was about 35 feet tall, the other about 18. The main function recently was the blocking of the TV Channels in the satellite. The volunteer trees that have been brought in by the birds are being hacked up and carried away. So goes the shed that now takes up way too much space in the backyard. A metal gazebo over 140 square feet of terra cotta colored tile from Saltio, Mexico is about to be installed.It will be nice to have sustainable shade in the backyard once again.  Sue has made me promise to plant a set of birch trees for a backyard oasis.  Part of our backyard is shaded by the neighbor's 100 foot redwood tree.

Our contractor loves having work to do in this economy. He has two adults to work with the project as well. In two days an amazing amount of work has been done.

Forge on to a new backyard!

: ) Pat