My Bedford, New York farm continues to transform with the planting of many beautiful and interesting trees.
Every year I try to add a few trees in my Japanese Maple Woodland. I love this area of the farm and am always thinking about what plants and trees would look best. There are hundreds of Japanese maples planted here already and because they prefer sun-dappled, part shade, I purposely planted them beneath older, larger trees - the varying heights add a nice texture to the grove. This week, my outdoor grounds crew planted another collection of these taller varieties such as maples and tulip trees, which will one day grow up to more than 120-feet tall.
Enjoy these photos, and please see my story on my Japanese Maple Woodland in the October issue of our magazine, "Living."
Every year around this time, my gardeners, outdoor grounds crew, and I carefully plan where we will plant hundreds of young trees. I get many of my trees as bare-root cuttings and then nurture them in pots before they are transplanted in more permanent locations. Here are some of trees waiting to be positioned and planted in the Japanese Maple Woodland.
This woodland is one of my favorite areas of the farm. It is located near my chicken coops and vegetable garden. Hundreds of rare and interesting Japanese maples are planted here and growing excellently. A Japanese maple is a small tree or large shrub in the Maple family that is native to the Asian countries of China, Korea and Japan. It is highly prized as a garden tree for its great ornamental beauty.
Many of my Japanese maples are varieties of Acer palmatum – trees that have been cultivated in Japanese gardens for centuries. These specimens provide countless variations in size, leaf shape, and color, creating a landscape of beauty and texture.
Red leafed cultivars are the most popular, followed by green shrubs with deeply dissected leaves. These leaves are deeply divided, but each lobe is also dissected, giving them a lacy effect.
And here is a green leafed version, ‘Osaka Suki.’ Japanese maple trees are particularly suitable for borders and ornamental paths because their root systems are compact and not invasive.
These trees are planted beneath the canopy of larger trees, but we needed a few more to fill the area.
Here’s Ryan placing a couple of the trees where they will be planted – many of them are going in an open space where older trees had fallen after Hurricane Sandy in 2012.
Among the trees being planted – maples. The maple tree, Acer, has leaves with pointed lobes and with deep indentations between the lobes. The leaves are a bold green color.
The crew is also planting some tulip trees. This is the leaf of the tulip tree. Our tulip trees are the tallest at the farm – these trees can grow more than 120-feet. In the late spring bright yellowish-green and orange flowers bloom. They resemble tulips in shape. The silhouette of the tree’s leaves is also tulip-shaped. Together, these features give the tulip tree its name. The tulip tree is also known as tulip poplar, yellow poplar, whitewood, and tulip magnolia. Some of these names can be deceiving, as the tree is not a true poplar. Instead, it belongs to the magnolia family.
The tulip tree’s bark on its large trunk is colored light grayish brown. It is corky and has vertical to slightly wavering vertical furrows.
Each tree is planted to the height it was in the pot. Domi digs each hole next to the tree – about
10 inches deep. Trees do so well here at the farm because of the rich well-drained soil.
Pasang then plants the trees. Here, he carefully removes the tree from its pot.
And then breaks up the root ball to stimulate root growth. Essentially, Pasang loosens the roots a bit and creates some beneficial injuries. This helps the plant become established more quickly in its new environment.
A scoop of good fertilizer is sprinkled on the surrounding soil.
“Bare to the flare” is the rule of thumb. Look for the root collar or root flare – the bulge just above the root system where the roots begin to branch away from the trunk. The root flare should be just above the soil surface.
Once the tree is planted, it is staked to protect it as it develops. Because these trees are so tall, we use bamboo stakes to secure the trees. Bamboo comes in a variety of lengths and is easy to find at garden supply stores. We use natural jute twine for many of our projects. Jute twine is a vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. It is 100-percent biodegradable and pollution-free.
Chhiring ties garden twine in three places – this will ensure the tree is well supported and directed as it grows.
I always teach every member of the crew to twist the twine before knotting, so the tree or vine or cane is not crushed or strangled.
I like to tie the twine in a figure-eight formation. Each piece is tied just tight enough to keep the tree secure, but not break it. And, we double the twine to provide added security in case of strong winds.
The young trees will one day be as tall as their mature neighbors, providing a canopy of high shade for all the plantings below – it will be most beautiful. Please take a look at my story on Japanese maples in the October issue of “Living” – it’s on newsstands now. And stay tuned for a future blog later this fall when the Japanese maple trees show off their gorgeous amber red colors.
Now is a good time to take care of some of those lawn maintenance chores.
Yesterday, my outdoor grounds crew foreman, Chhiring Sherpa, took on the task of seeding a small area adjacent to my allee of Lindens. The space is already planted with a variety of spring blooming daffodils, but the area also needed some green grass. Chhiring cleared the space of any debris, raked the soil, dropped the grass seed and organic fertilizer, and then gave it a good drink.
Here are some photos, enjoy.
In spring, the area on one side of my Linden allee is filled with gorgeous daffodil blooms, but I decided this garden bed would look even better on a bed of grass to cover any bare spots in between the daffodil varieties.
Now is a good time to seed the space while everything is dormant underground, so the area was first weed-whacked and cleared.
We use grass seed made by Scott’s. This versatile mix stays green through the year in either dense shade or full sun. You can also find some of Scott’s other products on my new e-commerce site at Martha.com.
Chhiring uses a STIHL backpack leaf blower and goes over the area once again to make sure it is completely clean. We’ve been using STIHL’s backpack blowers for years here at my farm. These blowers are powerful and fuel-efficient. The gasoline-powered engines provide enough rugged power to tackle debris while delivering much lower emissions.
I did not want any grass growing in the beds directly beneath the lindens, so Chhiring measures the space, so it can be well marked.
Chhiring uses jute twine and sod staples to indicate the section to avoid when seeding.
Chhiring pulls the jute twine along the length of the allee.
The area on the left will be seeded and the garden bed on the right will not.
Next, Chhiring uses a soft rake over the entire space to loosen the top layer of soil. This gives the grass seed direct access to the soil so it can root more easily after germinating.
To ensure no grass is seeded in the garden bed marked, Chhiring uses a piece of plywood to divide the two spaces while applying the seed.
He carefully starts dropping the grass seed on one side of the board – there is absolutely no grass touching the area behind the wood.
Scott’s wraps each seed in a unique WaterSmart® PLUS Coating that absorbs more water and provides added essential nutrients to help protect the seedlings from disease. The light blue coating also helps to see where seed has been dropped during the process.
Chhiring does this along the entire side of the bed. This is an easy way to create a straight and clean border.
Next, Chhiring fills the Scott’s hand-held broadcast spreader with more seed.
And then drops the seed in the middle of the space. This spreader has an ergonomic design and is easy to use and operate.
The next step is to rake the area again, so every part is evenly covered with seed.
Then, Chhiring applies an appropriate fertilizer. We’re using The Happy Lawn™ Fertilizer – a custom mix of never-burn ingredients like wheat flour, feather meal, and molasses, all designed to enrich the soil this time of year. It’s available on my site at Martha.com.
This granule fertilizer is safe for all grass types and completely safe around people and pets.
And finally, the area is watered. We use my trusted Gilmour oscillating sprinkler. These sprinklers are easy to control in a variety of areas – they provide thousands of square feet in water coverage and feature a tube with multiple openings that move back and forth to provide even watering. I use several around the farm for gently watering ground covering plants and lawns.
When watering new grass seed, it must watered deeply every day to get the best results.
We’re also using the Gilmour tripod sprinkler. The adjustable tripod can reach a height of 58-inches and can water everything from above. Once all the watering is done, it’s important to turn off the water at the source. Just turning off at the sprinkler puts a lot of pressure on the hoses and pipes.
This Linden allee is a favorite spot on the farm – I only wish it was longer. Right now, the leaves are this gorgeous dark green color. In autumn, they turn a beautiful shade of yellow. I’ll be sure to show you more photos as the foliage changes and when the new lawn is grown. Stay tuned.
I have so many delicious fruits growing here at my Bedford, New York farm.
Fresh fruit is one of nature's most delicious products. In midsummer, we pick boxes and boxes of raspberries, blueberries, gooseberries, and currants. In late August, we pick delicious peaches and apricots fresh off my trees. This week, we harvested some juicy Asian pears. And soon, all the apples will be ready. Here at Cantitoe Corners, I have an orchard around my pool filled with a variety of more than 200 different fruit trees. I also have fruits growing on espaliers and in groves - on trees I've planted and on trees that are original to the farm. I also grow tropical fruits in my greenhouses. I can't wait to harvest the next bounty of sweet and organic fruits.
Enjoy these photos.
This orchard surrounds three sides of my pool. I wanted it filled with a variety of apple trees, plum trees, cherry trees, peach, pear, and quince trees. Many were bare-root cuttings when they arrived and now they’re beautiful mature specimens.
I planted several types of Asian pear, Pyrus pyrifolia, which is native to East Asia. My trees include Hosui, Niitaka, Shinko, and Shinseiko. Asian pears have a high water content and a crisp, grainy texture, which is very different from the European varieties. They are most commonly served raw and peeled. Some of these are ready for picking.
The other pears in this orchard are ‘Bartlett’, ‘Columbia’, ‘D’Amalis’, ‘Ginnybrook’, ‘McLaughlin’, ‘Nova’, ‘Patten’, ‘Seckel’, ‘Stacyville’, and ‘Washington State’.
These are the fruits of the medlar, Mespilus germanica – a small deciduous tree and member of the rose family. These fruits are not ready yet – we’ll pick them in late October or early November.
The fruit is about one to two inches in diameter, and ranges in color from rosy rust to dusty brown. Medlars are native to Southwestern Asia and Southeastern Europe. The fruits have to be eaten when almost rotten in a process called “bletting”. And, because of this, they either have to be eaten right off the tree or picked early and put aside for a few weeks to blet. The medlar is very pulpy and very sweet. Its taste is similar to an overripe date with a flavor similar to toffee apples or apple butter.
And of course, I have a large section of apples. I already grow hundreds of apple trees here at the farm – some that were here when I acquired the property and others I planted soon after moving here. These newer apple trees include ‘Baldwin’, ‘Black Oxford’, ‘Cortland’, ‘Cox’s Orange Pippin’, ‘Esopus Spitzenburg’, ‘Fuji’, ‘Golden Russet’, ‘Grimes Golden’, ‘Honeycrisp’, ‘Liberty’, ‘Redfield’, ‘Roxbury Russet’, and ‘Windham Russet’.
Apple trees need well-drained soil – nothing too wet. The soil also needs to be moderately rich and retain moisture as well as air. And the best exposure for apples is a north- or east-facing slope.
Just outside the old corn crib are quince trees – three of the many I have here at the farm.
Are you familiar with quince? Quince is a fall fruit that grows like apples and pears, but with an unusually irregular shape and often gray fuzz. These fruits turn a golden yellow when ready to pick in fall.
Behind the main greenhouse, I have a grove of pawpaw trees. Asimina triloba, the American papaw, pawpaw, paw paw, or paw-paw, among many regional names, is a small deciduous tree native to the eastern United States and Canada.
These are the developing pawpaws – greenish-blackish fruit, usually three to six inches long.
The taste of a pawpaw is a mix of mango-banana-citrus all in one. It’s a big favorite for some here at the farm.
Near the pawpaw trees are two trifoliate orange trees, Citrus trifoliata or Poncirus trifoliata – a member of the family Rutaceae. Also known as the “hardy orange” or “flying dragon,”it is the most cold hardy of all citrus. It is a large, deciduous shrub that produces an unusually sour, downy fruit considered to be nearly inedible when raw but medicinally beneficial and delicious when cooked. The fruit is commonly juiced, made into marmalades, jams, jellies, or candied. Trifoliate oranges are slightly smaller than conventional oranges and taste like a blend of lemon and grapefruit. But watch out when picking – the thorns are long, thick, and very sharp.
Star fruit, also known as carambola, is the fruit of the Averrhoa carambola tree. Ripe star fruit is fleshy, crunchy, and juicy and has a sweet and slightly tart taste. When sliced horizontally, the fruit resembles a star, which is why it is named “star fruit”. This tree is planted in my vegetable greenhouse and doing so excellently.
These figs are still green, but they are growing nicely. Figs, Ficus carica, are members of the mulberry family and are indigenous to Asiatic Turkey, northern India, and warm Mediterranean climates, where they thrive in full sun. We planted five fig trees in my vegetable greenhouse earlier this summer.
The fig tree has been sought out and cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world, both for its fruit and as an ornamental plant. Most fig tree leaves are bright green, large, singular, and well-lobed.
Outside my stable in front of the peafowl and pigeon pens, I have this espalier of pear trees. Espalier refers to an ancient technique, resulting in trees that grow flat, either against a wall, or along a wire-strung framework. Many kinds of trees respond beautifully to the espalier treatment, but fruit trees, like apple and pear, were some of the earliest examples. And, because necessary sunlight reaches every piece of fruit that these trees bear, espalier pruning remains standard procedure at commercial orchards in France.
Last year, we planted six ‘Shinseiki’ and four ‘Nijisseiki’ pear trees. ‘Shinseiki’ Asian pear means “new century” and was developed from two of the best Asian pears of the 1940s. The ‘Shinseiki’ Asian pear is round, medium to large, yellow smooth-skinned fruit with little or no russet. It has crisp, creamy white flesh, and a mild, sweet flavor. The ‘Nijisseiki’ pear, or the 20th Century Asian pear as it is often called, is incredibly delicious, easy to grow, and smells just like a pear, but, like an apple, the outside of the fruit is crisp, firm, and round.
And look at all the apples in the dwarf espalier behind my long carport – so many apples. I will be making lots of fresh apple cider this year.
More apples hang from the branches of the Malus ‘Gravenstein’ espalier apple trees. I love this crisp and juicy apple, an antique variety, which is wonderful to eat and great for cooking and baking.
There is always something growing here at my working farm. I am so very proud of how it has developed over the years.
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