Pacific Northwest Gardening: Apple trees?, 2 by LakeLivingRos

LakeLivingRos wrote:
Thanks for the kudos!

I actually got the idea for the bamboo fencing on here! Some really great ideas from this community, and I found the bamboo fencing at Lowes. (Home Depot has the same exact stuff, but 2x as expensive for the same name brand, don't really get it). Anyways, the stuff they had on stock was in 6' x 6' or 6' x 8' rolls. The color I got was mahogany. I don't really know why but some of them had a green tint to it, maybe the stain was lighter? They had a plain color bamboo, but I thought the darker was nicer looking. The different colors is not really noticeable though, and the tints all seem to blend in very well as a background to my plants (which will eventually grow in and fill the space in 10 years). It has a warranty on it too, which was a nice surprise that came with purchasing. The information that comes with the bamboo fencing says they recommend that you update the stain every couple years (and I think the warranty is for either 15 or 30 years). It is SUPER heavy, and I had to have 3 Lowes employees help me load my car with them! I actually bought all that they had in the store because our property is so long and skinny.

I attached some photos of the difference the bamboo fence makes! The first is a photo of our property line when my husband purchased the property (it was abandoned property for 3+ years, and I had never had a garden before but I completely cleaned out the safari overgrown plants (which many were actually hedges coming over from the other lot). With some problems with the abandoned property next door we had to put up a chain link fence (recommended by the police), but still having problems (I was working on landscaping and was thinking in many years the plants would eventually cover the fence, but with more problems it was just not going fast enough) and so with a little help from everyone went with the bamboo! I would TOTALLY recommend it to everyone!! It went from sort of trashy chain link to feeling resort like and peaceful. You can still see through the fence (only a little) if you are standing within a foot or two, and one gardener suggested putting landscaping fabric behind it before putting it up. I would recommend that to anyone who wants it to be completely blocked, and think that was a good idea, although I had already started putting some up so I might go back later and do that but so far it's totally secluded feeling, especially since I have some plants in front of the bamboo. The bamboo is probably 2-3 inches thick, and it is held together with a thick metal wire (like the kind you have in a chain link fence). My husband zip tied it to the chain link with black zip ties, so you can't even see the zip ties, especially since he did those behind plants.

Also, I might mention, thinking about fruit trees, my parents have this (it must be a dwarf) plum tree, that bears so much fruit, is hacked back to about 4 feet every year (so my moms rose bushes get light), and my dad I think has had it for 40 years.

I also remember.. my rental place I lived at before moving to Angle Lake had this very old apple tree. The landlord said her mother planted it, maybe 60 years ago?? That thing produced over 200 green cooking apples. I own a daycare center, so I would have the kids (the preschool class) come and pick the apples and we would have enough apples to last a few months! (I would make apple sauce and freeze it with them). The apple tree was so old, it had collapsed onto itself, and was totally infected with some sort of bug (at the time I had no knowledge about plants). I just loved the fruit it bore! I will try and find a picture of it! Of course, the location of it was in the middle of the yard, so it got full sun (when the sun was out, and Seattle is SUPER cloudy 90% of the year). But, there was not any wind because there was 2 story high rhododendrons that surrounded the yard. I remember the landlord saying she was thinking about removing it, but I asked her not to because although it looked dead, it still produced like a champ! Thinking about it now, I am sure if someone just treated it for the bugs it would not look so dead anymore!