I emailed you late last year. Thanks for your help. Wanted to give you a
little update.The irrigation and garden beds are coming along nicely.
Decided to wait on the tree planting till next years bare root season. That way I can get the soil in tip top shape before I plant.
Viragrow been getting part of my paycheck weekly, 2 yards in each bed with my F150. Half 100% organic and Half Rejuvenate. Have a look at the progress.
-Chris
Viragrow Delivers!
Looks great, Chris. Keep up the good work! How can people get in touch with you?
ReplyDeleteYou can use my twitter if people want to contact me. @OnePositiveDude
ReplyDeleteAlso I have intentions of posting some of the process and thoughts at Desert2Garden.tumblr.com when I get the time.
Here are some of Chris' earlier questions and comments.
ReplyDeleteI'm a 37 year old guy here in Vegas. I've been gardening a bit but now I have finally bought a home with a bit of land and want to expand my plans. You seem to be the main man to ask when it comes to growing in Vegas. My new home is out near Rhodes Ranch area. It has a nice large South West facing yard. I've come up with a big project to install a garden and some fruit trees. I'm generally versed in the garden stuff but this will be my first experiment with trees. Hoping this will be a long term project to supply food for my family. I figure these questions could make for some good articles for you or at least some easy answers for me.
We haven't even closed on the property yet but I already have big plans. Based on the fact we are in USDA Zone 9 and the types of fruit we enjoy, I came up with a list of trees(below) I would LIKE to grow. I'm not 100% on all the typical things needed for a desert orchard.
Tree List
Asian Pears 3in1
Fruit Salad(Stone) 3in1
Cot-N-Candy
Brittney Gold Apricot
Honey Crisp
Gala
Indian Free Peach
Fair Time Peach
Fuji Red
Satsuma
Valencia
Bearss Lime
Meyer Lemon
Washington Navel
Concord Grape
Green Grape
Goji Berries
1. I plan to dig holes for planting the trees but also add an 8" raised bed on top of the native soil so I can supplement with good compost, nutrients and mulch. Is this a good plan? I'm concerned the raising could cause this top 8" soil to be hotter.Is it better to just dig bigger holes and mix my compost in deep?
2. I've seen folks do some things when it comes to initial planting that I don't know the reasoning. Most people put in a wooden or metal stake to hold the tree. Is this a requirement? I feel like my intention to keep the trees short and well pruned would negate the need for staking. Also many people seem to be painting their tree wood white. I presume this is to prevent sunburn. What type of paint is acceptable and is this only on specific trees or can all of them be painted?
3. When it comes to irrigation. I plan to run 1 zone of pipe from my sprinkler system around the perimeter of my yard. Then putting a T with a valve to each 1 or 2 trees. Considering the desert heat is it advisable to use a soaker hose around the root zone under the mulch at each tree, a ring of bubbling emitters, or just a standard sprinkler near the tree base?
4. Where can I get a truckload of good organic compost and good chemical free mulch?
Lastly I'm really excited about this plan and I hope I can make it all work. As I go along I wouldn't mind having someone to bounce ideas off if you are interested in a little backyard orchard culture.
I'm getting all dwarf trees if available. Also going to use Dave Wilson nursery backyard orchard techniques for controlling size by pruning. I'm awaiting approval from my HOA on whether my design is approved. I'm going to try and keep photo and video records throughout the process.