Favourite Corner - Spring 2014. Gunsteling Hoekie - Lente 2014

I can't believe it's been a year since I last did a "favourite corner" post. How time flies, hey. This time my post will be more focused on a favourite shrub than an actual favourite corner, but the shrub is in a corner, so what the hell...

Japanese Quince/Blomkweper

Chaenomeles japonica is normally grown as an ornamental plant due to its beautiful orange-red to bright-red flowers. They also produce small quinces. Yes, they are perfectly edible. James Wong filled my head with mini-quinces and rumptopf about a year ago now. The rumptopf is still outstanding, as the mini-quinces are still very much outstanding too. 

I must be honest; I have no idea how long this little shrub will take to fruit. I just hope it's not seven years or an equally ridiculous amount of time. Even worse - I hope it's not a "Speciosa" flowering hybrid which doesn't produce fruit. The horror! That's the thing with most South African nurseries: the plants are not properly named and the naming might sometimes even be a bit dodgy. Oh well, let's just hope for the best.

Botanical name: CHAENOMELES JAPONICA

Common name: Japanese Quince/Flowering Quince

Volksnaam: Blomkweper

Native to: Japan

Date planted/sowed: June 2013

Ease to grow: Extremely easy to grow

Costs: The shrub was a gift but costs around R85.00, plus compost of around R10.00/bag

Notes: Grows well in shady spots, but doesn't flower or produce fruit as well

Fruit Trees, Bamboo Battles, etc. Vrugtebome, Rateltaai Bamboes ens.

Identifying a bed for Fruit Trees

My dreams of partial self-sufficiency did not just stretch as far as a small vegetable patch and a few Num-Nums or Natal Plums. Oh no, I wanted two or three, or more, fruit trees as well. Yes, I did plant a Japanese Quince and a Cherry Guava early on, but I wanted less exotic fruit as well. Fruit we ate a lot, like apples. 

Realising this dream proved more difficult than anticipated. The various obstacles to my plan included space, shade and too many other useless trees and shrubs. A plan of action had to be worked out of course, and that would start with the Swamp Cypress...

De-branching the Swamp Cypress

As I discussed in my post on container gardening, I have a bit of a space problem. Not only because I have an urban garden, but also due to the already established trees in it. The biggest thorn in my side is our Swamp Cypress. It is a beautiful tree, but the parents and I receive endless complaints about how it covers a substantial part of our street in a carpet of orange leaves in autumn and winter. The complaints generally come from the very same people who park in its shade in summer. Such is life. The other problem is how massive it is, both in canopy and root size. Therefore a few roots, and all the lower branches had to go. 

1 Sep 2013 - Before picture of the Swamp Cypress/ en die toekomstige vrugteboom bedding

 The first part of this mammoth task was to get rid of the branches. This part wasn't as tough as expected. The next part of the task would prove to be the back-breaker, though.

15 Sep 2013 -New and improved Swamp Cypress

The second part was to remove the biggest cypress roots in the bed I wanted to use for my fruit trees. This had to wait awhile though, since there were some bamboo reeds and ferns to get rid of first. Ai!!!

Getting rid of Bamboo and Ferns

2 Sep 2013 - The bamboo bush in all its glory

Major drama! Sweat, more sweat, and even a little blood was involved, but luckily no tears. A process that started early October...

4 Nov 2013 - Almost done decimating the bamboo

   ... and only finished early November. 7 November 2013 to be exact; a date of celebration...

7 Nov 2013 - The end; just landfill remaining

Needless to say; I will NEVER plant bamboo again. Ever! 

Bamboo/Bamboes? Never again/Nooit weer nie!!!

Composting the Apple and Kumquat Bed

The last part, but by no means the least, was preparing the bed for my fruit trees. A process I only finished with mid-November. I blame those bloody bamboo reeds! Luckily I had a few companions to keep me occupied while doing this. Not only the mom and granny, but also a few Cape Wagtails (Motacilla capensis), or Kwikkies as we know them in Afrikaans:

A Cape Wagtail keeping me company/'n Kwikkie hou my geselskap

 Choosing Fruit Trees for my Urban Garden

What type of fruit? Which cultivar? What size? Questions, questions... Two of my favourite nurseries Norgarivier Kwekery/Nursery and George Kwekery/Nursery convinced me I needed two apple trees for a successful harvest. Hence, I bought two. A Granny Smith and a Golden Delicious. They are apparently excellent cross-pollinators. See, apples are so fussy you can't even plant two of the same type. No sir, you need two different cultivars. 

The other fruit tree I settled on was a kumquat. The granny and I are major fans, although the rest of the family isn't too keen. Well, space being the problem that it is, forced my hand really. I wanted something smallish, hardy and useable. Kumquat it will be. Once again, thanks to the wonderful Norgarivier Nursery on the Airport road near George.

Sep 2013 - The original spot for the Kumquat

The Planting

Unfortunately I've had to make a tough decision. Alas, our garden only has space for one apple tree (barely). Hopefully the Golden Delicious will find a nice spot in a friend's garden. The Granny Smith I'm definitely keeping. Luckily I've read that said apple trees are self-fertile. Yes, it will fruit better with another apple to cross-pollinate with, but I would get to harvest delicious Granny's with one tree as well. The kumquat will maar have to be its neighbour shame.

Oct 2013 - Die Granny Smith Appelboompie

I hope all the hours of back-breaking work and the endless amount of blisters, scrapes and bruises will be worth it. Somehow I think it will. And here are the results of the (semi-) finished bed:

12 Nov 2013 - Fruit bed/Vrugte Bedding

Fltr - Granny Smith, Boysenberry, Kumquat

I decided on chives and lavender as companion plants to my apple, blackberry and kumquat. Apparently most pests detest the strong fragrance of these plants. I planted chives around the apple and kumquat and a row of French lavenders on the edge of the bed. 

Do you believe in Companion Planting, or use it at home?

The Inspiration. Die Inspirasie

Once upon a time long, long ago, when I was still in primary school I already had a garden of my own. I guess my parents inspired me, since they are the most passionate gardeners ever! Since those days in the mid-90s gardening has always been a passion, albeit a neglected one after high school.

Then, about five months ago I watched a programme called 'Grow Your Own Drugs' by James Wong on satellite TV. He was so enthusiastic about his subject matter that I started to read up about him and his campaign.

Which, in turn, got me to clap my hands in glee at the idea behind his "Homegrown Revolution". My head was filled with all the wonderful and exotic edibles I could grow right here in my yard on the Garden Route in South Africa. And so the bug bit...

I wanted to plant a Japanese Quince, so I got one, all the way from a nursery in Bloemfontein:

Japanese Quince or Flowering Quince/Japanese Kweper of Blomkweper (Chaenomeles japonica)

Since James (Wong, that is) made such a beautiful-looking Rumtopf with the mini-quinces and Chilean Guavas, my next plan of action was to get myself one of those. Unfortunately, I didn't have any success in finding even one Chilean Guava (Ugni molinae) in South Africa. In the end I settled for a species more familiar to me:

Cherry or Strawberry Guava/Aarbeikoejawel (Psidium cattleianum)

 The Cherry Guava, as it is known in this neck of the woods, is classified as an invasive species in the RSA, especially in the humid sub-tropical provinces, so be careful before planting it though! They tend to fruit profusely and easily. The small tree had three guavas when I got it already. Oh boy; beware of fruit-flies though, as they adore these delicious dark-red to purple fruits just as much as we do. Pick them when they are just slightly red, and let them ripen completely indoors.

The other exotic recommended by James Wong I just had to have was a Physalis peruviana, or two, or three. He refers to them as 'Inca Berries', but over here in South Africa we call them Cape Gooseberries or Appelliefies. I simply love the Afrikaans name 'Appelliefie', which means something like "little love-apple". It is just as adorable as the fruit itself. Although they are not indigenous they are widely known and grown, sometimes popping up left, right and centre on own accord. It was quite easy to source four small plants, of which the biggest one was a gift from a colleague:

Cape Gooseberry or Inca Berry/Appelliefie (Physalis peruviana)

Well, a boy's gotta start somewhere I guess! With these exotic fruit planted and the gardening bug firmly entrenched, I just couldn't wait to get started with the vegetable patch :-)