Fruit Tree Friends

Despite the cold winter days (and copious amounts of rain), I just love to pass the time by dreaming of summer and the potential my currently boggy garden has when the sun is shining.
This will be coming up to my third summer of gardening. I am learning constantly, and as I learn, I feel more confident in trying new things...
This year, I am going to attempt stone fruit trees. We live in a small unit quite close to the city. Its outdoor area consists of two small gardens, a back fence and a strip of grass, surrounded predominantly by a concrete courtyard. Not the most conducive environment for self-sufficiency, but I try my best!
These photos might give you an idea of the size of the space I have to work with. Please note these photos are not current.... it's way too wet to be outside photographing my mostly swamp-esque garden today.

Front of house courtyard and corner garden. This garden doesn't get a lot of sun so I mostly grow herbs and lavender here. I had an explosion of borage and nasturtiums in the summer that the bees absolutely loved!

Side of house section of courtyard, taken mid-Summer last year. This still has lots of pots, and to the right under the clothesline we now have grass and a feijoa tree. The tree in the wine barrel is a fruiting cherry- the best present ever from my parents! We gorged ourselves on fresh cherries last summer, which were perfectly ripe on Christmas Day!


Back fence, start of last summer.
Left to right, beans of many varieties, tomato selection, and gherkins. This winter I am growing peas up the trellis and broad beans in the middle section. The end section is far too wet and sunless to grow anything at this time of year unfortunately.

The vegetable garden. It's very small but surprisingly prolific with the right weather!

Since learning about the existence of dwarf fruit trees, I have been dying to add to my small garden family. A trip to the garden centre this weekend to 'see what they had on offer', all of a sudden became a buying spree, and before I knew it, I was home with two new trees and some blueberry bushes, wondering where in the heck they were going to fit!

Despite space issues, I am proud to now welcome to my fruit tree family, a dwarf peach called Pixzee, and a dwarf nectarine called Flavourzee.

New trees, waiting for pots.

Originally, I was only going to buy one, and Paddy and I were disagreeing over whether it would be a peach or a nectarine. Luckily for us (but not so much for my bank balance), either tree needs a mate to help with fertilization. Even more luckily, a peach can help fertilize a nectarine and vice versa. So, now we have both. I may have also picked up two blueberry plants... Opps! Some women buy shoes or handbags, I buy plants. At least my vice feeds me I suppose!

Also waiting for a home. I want to buy a few more of these and plant them in a long planter box.
I love blueberries and the foliage is so beautiful, even in the middle of winter.

I can't wait till these all start to fruit! One day I hope to have a whole orchard of dwarf fruit trees. I may just need a larger section though...