Arbor Day Tree Care & Landscape Design Blog

Adding Trees and Shrubs to your Garden

on Apr 21 in Landscape Design tagged Apple Trees, Edible Landscaping, Fruit Trees, Nut Trees, Vegetable Garden
by Rick with 5 comments

Gardening has been a hot topic around my house lately. The past few summers my wife has been interested in creating a garden but the timing has never been right. This summer she is determined to make it happen.

We recently sold our house and purchased a new house, allowing her to fully commit to creating the garden. She recently order vegetable seeds and is starting to make plans on the location of the raised planter bed in the new backyard. I reminded her that in addition to the traditional vegetable garden crops that we could add some edible trees and shrubs. The strong benefit of trees and shrubs besides providing a new source of “groceries” is that we only need to plant them once compared to some vegetables.

There are many choices that we can make but was reminded by one of her magazines to plant what you will eat. That narrows down our choices since we are both picky eaters.

In the end we agreed that we are going to explore finding a space an apple tree.

Any suggestions on other fruit trees or nut trees we should add? We have limited space in our new backyard.

Space Needed for Backyard Orchard

on Sep 02 in Landscape Design tagged Apple Trees, Arborist Q and A, Fruit Trees
by Robert Smith with 2 comments

Q: How much space do I need for a backyard orchard?

Well, this depends on your purpose. A single, self-pollinating peach tree may satisfy a peach lover. Or you may be like Stuart Kennedy of Cincinnati who just planted 10 dwarf apple trees because his wife makes great pies and they want to watch their budget in these tough economic times. Stuart has also added a 2,200 sq. ft. garden, a grape vine and a pear tree as the family tries to move toward growing its own food.

Trees That Attract Honeybees

on Jul 22 in Misc Trees tagged Arborist Q and A, Bees, Flowering Trees, Fruit Trees
by Robert Smith with 5 comments

Q: What trees attract honeybees?

This is a good question, especially in light of the struggle our industrious little friends are having just to exist in our ever-urbanizing world.

Adding Fruit Trees to your Landscape Design

on Jun 23 in Landscape Design tagged Arbor Day Farm, Fruit Trees, Landscape Design
by Eric Olson with 12 comments

As the Apple Orchard Manager at Arbor Day Farm, I often get questions about how to create a fruit orchard in a home or landscape setting. There are several items that you should consider to make sure you find a tree that is right for you.