Practical Ecology

Nature Switched On

 

 

 

 


in the Pyrenees  the first 10 years

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index
gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-
map
>> 2012 Dec 11
<< 2011 Oct 23

 

 

Overview of the vegetable garden with the fast growing Almond tree on the right.
Looking east.
28 Nov 10:30

                    a   S T A M M E R  project (news)             


2011 November 9 to 28


Our outdoor thermometer is about 1 meter above ground level and hasn't registered temperatures below zero yet, but water in the drinking trough for the birds gets frozen and the straw layer in the vegetable garden shows frost in the mornings.

Some fruit trees have lost all their leaves while others are still green as if it were still summer. Time for a brief account of the different behaviours of the fruit trees.

There is an Almond tree in the middle of the vegetable garden which is now practically leafless but has shown vigorous growth over the last years, surely due to the thick mulch layer. But alas, its almonds split open spontaneously and rot away (or are eaten away) before harvest time and I won't be surprised if this is caused by all too favourable humidity conditions, adapted as the tree is to drought. 

The apple tree ('Starking Delicious') is as green as ever, while the pear ('Conference') is starting to turn yellow. The Black mulberry trees are still green as well but something special happened last year with one of them.

 


WWW   NSO



Mist is a constant feature now every morning, sometimes swallowing our zone as well.
9 Nov 9:04
  Mulberry tree on the left, Apple tree in the middle, Pear tree on the right.
Barley just germinating in the background.
28 Nov 10:47
 

___________

November last year the Black mulberry tree on the right not only withered prematurely but even seemed to die, until we discovered a new sprout at its base in late spring the following year. This sprout started to grow at an impressive rate and has now reached a height of more than 2 metres!

This sprout comes from the roots on which the original tree was grafted and will probably not produce a lot of useful fruit but the plant has beautiful big green leaves wchich will produce a very useful shadow in front of the house. Its vigorous spontaneous growth is also perhaps preferable to the somewhat static, polelike constitution of his grafted nephews.

 
  Photograph taken on 18 Nov 2010 (14:51) with the brown leaves of the Mulberry tree on the right. The one on the left is still green.
  The new offshoot on the same Mulberry tree. The old trunk serves as support.
28 Nov 10:49


Mulberry tree in the foreground. In the background the Pear tree and two Almond trees of which the one in the centre has lost a big branch and badly needs some additional pruning.
28 Nov 11:09

______________

 

 

Most fruit trees will receive the regular pruning in the coming weeks. The mature Almond trees on the other hand are mostly left alone, as they have never been pruned before and look quite nice and natural that way.
But last summer several big branches of some older Almond tree broke off, because they had grown too long and heavy. They had probably received a single pruning in a younger stage which disturbed their natural balanced development, which is perhaps an example of the rule that once you start pruning you have to prune every year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Lichen growth shows clearly the different pruning stages of this young almond tree.
The white tufts in the background  are cobwebs, the black ones are fruit clusters of Wild carrot.
28 Nov 12:46
 

 

Quince tree in the centre.
Violet Kale in the foreground.
Looking north.
28 Nov 10:56

______________

The Cherry tree is beautiful in the autumn light and has grown a lot this year, taking advantage of the nearby compost heap.

 

 

 

Still green and showing good health are the Quince (Cydonia oblonga 'Gigante de Vranja') and the Peach tree ('Calanda'), although they haven't produced any significant fruit so far, which is true for most planted fruit trees with the notable exception of the Cherry tree. I suppose that they are still too young (4 or 5 years).

 

Cherry tree with the compost heap. We harvested quite some cherries this year.
28 Nov 10:55

 

 

 

From left to right: Jerusalem artichoke, Leek, Swiss chard, Tomatoes. At the back, still green, the Peach tree.
28 Nov 10:51
 

______________

More than once I observed a notable difference in the shedding of leaves between young trees and older ones. An extreme example these days are the different Walnut trees in the zone. The younger one (about 2 years old) was growing spontaneously in the vegetable garden and I replanted it somewhere else with quite some straw around it to survive the summer. Well, I can now say that it did more than survive and is still as green and fresh as in spring. The older Walnut trees have all shed their leaves by now.

 
The young Walnut tree in the south corner of the zone.
28 Nov 12:52
An older Walnut tree which has begun to produce nuts this year so it must be over 10 years old.
28 Nov 12:48
 

 

______________

The Loquat tree (Eriobotrya japonica) in front of the greenhouse has formed a lot of new leaves after having lost quite some in the long dry summer. I wonder if it will start to flower this winter.

 

The Loquat tree in front of the greenhouse.
A cluster of Almond trees on the left.
28 Nov 10:45

introduction
floristic catalogue
faunistic catalogue
contact
index
gallery 1: 2006-2012
gallery 2: 2012-
map
>> 2012 Dec 11
<< 2011 Oct 23

 

 

 


 

  

 

 

 

 

 

Latest revision on:  01/08/2018